Tax and other income raised per person Public money spent per person

What it means: the chart shows everything the public sector spends (solid line) and everything it raises in taxes and other income (fainter line), as a share of the economy since 1948. The gap between them is borrowed. The table splits the latest year by nation and region: tax is counted where it is raised and spending where people benefit from it, so London and the South East raise more than is spent on them and other areas the reverse. Spending that benefits everyone, such as defence and debt interest, is shared out by population. Tax raised includes a geographic share of North Sea oil and gas revenue. This is a description of how money flows, not a judgement, so it is shown for context.

Source: Office for Budget Responsibility, public finances databank; ONS, country and regional public sector finances (financial year ending 2025), tables S5 and S6.