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[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Public sector fiscal balances

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Public Sector Fiscal Balances

The Public Sector Current Surplus is the public sector's current receipts (including capital taxes) less its current expenditure (including depreciation). It is the key fiscal balance underlying the operation of the Golden Rule. A positive figure indicates that income is higher than expenditure.

Public sector net borrowing is the public sector's total expenditure (current and capital) less total receipts. It is an indicator of the overall fiscal stance. A positive figure means that expenditure is higher than income.

"Net investment" is capital expenditure net of sales of capital assets and depreciation.

"Net capital grants" are capital grants paid less capital grants received.

The figures are latest data from national accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics. Last updated on 20th July 2004.

For further information the government's fiscal agenda see the Budget Report 2004.

Public Sector Fiscal Balances

Surplus on current budget

Gross capital formation (1)

Depreciation

Net Capital grants

Total Net Investment

Net Borrowing

£million

1946-47
-342 179 182 492 361 703 1947-48
137 435 265 324 314 177 1948-49
490 658 445 219 168 -322 1949-50
622 728 463 275 230 -392 1950-51
571 850 501 217 334 -237 1951-52
477 1,159 580 116 614 137 1952-53
339 1,291 640 101 717 378 1953-54
197 1,412 649 92 836 639 1954-55
178 1,299 682 80 691 513 1955-56
376 1,296 748 100 643 267 1956-57
278 1,420 811 83 686 408 1957-58
315 1,464 861 78 673 358 1958-59
377 1,551 896 80 728 351 1959-60
226 1,640 915 76 794 568 1960-61
182 1,722 965 94 843 661 1961-62
473 1,999 1,022 112 1,082 609 1962-63
468 1,990 1,075 136 1,044 576 1963-64
372 2,397 1,140 140 1,389 1,017 1964-65
932 2,759 1,217 171 1,703 771 1965-66
1,255 2,939 1,305 198 1,824 569 1966-67
1,316 3,474 1,405 211 2,271 955 1967-68
1,281 3,907 1,520 540 2,916 1,635 1968-69
2,552 3,818 1,664 695 2,819 267 1969-70
3,653 3,804 1,817 812 2,778 -875 1970-71
3,565 4,480 2,065 850 3,238 -327 back to top
1971-72
2,489 4,616 2,306 832 3,115 626 1972-73
1,334 5,088 2,616 786 3,238 1,904 1973-74
224 6,187 3,138 874 3,897 3,673 1974-75
-939 8,008 4,026 979 4,927 5,866 1975-76
225 10,224 5,081 964 6,058 7,817 1976-77
251 10,466 5,963 1,194 5,619 7,170 1977-78
272 9,804 6,794 1,416 4,337 6,461 1978-79
-4,528 10,450 7,700 1,546 4,190 8,718 1979-80
-3,978 12,137 9,136 1,712 4,539 8,517 1980-81
-7,195 13,403 10,925 2,027 4,312 11,507 1981-82
-3,559 12,190 11,889 2,224 2,410 5,969 1982-83
-4,266 14,130 12,345 2,677 4,245 8,511 1983-84
-6,204 15,167 12,826 3,460 5,497 11,701 1984-85
-7,158 14,985 12,841 3,238 5,080 12,238 1985-86
-4,187 14,190 12,057 2,736 4,520 8,707 1986-87
-5,263 13,100 12,645 2,801 2,778 8,041 1987-88
-1,408 12,964 12,295 2,701 2,849 4,257 1988-89
8,010 12,448 13,584 3,412 1,711 -6,299 1989-90
7,340 17,958 14,666 3,619 6,269 -1,071 1990-91
2,314 18,187 13,777 4,254 8,150 5,836 1991-92
-11,566 18,505 12,347 5,268 10,973 22,539 1992-93
-34,331 19,182 11,905 5,418 12,356 46,687 1993-94
-40,638 17,681 11,983 5,153 10,358 50,996 1994-95
-32,818 18,452 12,488 4,854 10,391 43,209 1995-96
-24,405 19,157 12,900 4,432 10,336 34,741 1996-97
-21,572 14,289 11,966 4,032 5,873 27,445 1997-98
-1,385 13,606 12,282 4,388 5,196 6,581 1998-99
10,005 14,199 12,319 4,920 6,433 -3,572 1999-00
19,591 12,683 13,604 4,768 4,420 -15,171

2000-01

20,543 14,590 12,957 4,277 5,154 -15,389 2001-02
9,430 16,927 13,364 7,267 9,891 461 Projections
2002-03
-13,926
18,810
14,080
7,425
11,264
25,190
2003-04
-20,338
20,334
14,340
8,966
13,661
33,999
2004-05
-10,543
27,930
15,516
10,855
22,384
-32,927
2005-06
-5,461
29,586
16,325
12,579
25,169
-30,630

(1) Including acquisitions less disposals of non-produced assets such as land

For further explanation please see links below to a Glossary of Terms.

The document Glossary of Terms is available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website.

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There is also a text version of the document available below.

Media links

Public Spending Totals and Fiscal Balances index

Public Spending Statistics index