Public sector net debt amounted to 88.9 percent of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom during the 2023/24 financial year, rising to 97.8 percent when the Bank of England is included. This is the highest debt incurred by the government since the early 1960s. After peaking at 251.7 percent shortly after the end of the Second World War, government debt in the UK gradually fell, before a sharp increase in the late 2000s at the time of the global financial crisis. Debt not expected to start falling until 2029/30 In 2022/23, the UK's government expenditure was approximately 1.15 trillion pounds, around 45.3 percent of GDP. This spending was financed by 1.02 trillion pounds of revenue raised, and 1.28 billion pounds of borrowing. Although the UK government can still borrow money in the future, it also needs to abide by certain fiscal rules, one of which is that debt should be falling within a five-year timeframe. Recent forecasts suggest that while this is expected to be the case, it is based on falling government deficits in the next five years. Next government faces hard choices Whoever wins the UK's 2024 general election will face tough economic choices in the coming years. Hitting fiscal targets, such as reducing the national debt, will require a careful balancing of the books, and possibly the need for either spending cuts or tax rises. The two major parties, Labour and the Conservatives, have both ruled out raising the main government tax sources, Income Tax, National Insurance, and VAT, and have so far remained silent on possible spending cuts. With limits on borrowing, and no tax rises or spending cuts, maintaining, let alone improving public services, will prove a challenging prospect for the next government.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFSGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about budget, federal, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit - from 1901 to 2024 about budget, federal, and USA.

Over the course of the 1920s, the value of money deposited in commercial banks grew at a fairly steady rate, rising from around 19 billion U.S. dollars in 1921 (the initial dip was due to the post-WWI recession), to 25 billion at the end of the decade. However, the onset of the Great Depression saw these figures drop drastically, and the value of deposits fell from around 26 to 16 billion dollars between 1930 and 1933. This was not only due to high unemployment and lower wages, but many Americans also lost faith in the banks during the Depression - many blamed the banks for the Depression as frivolous lending practices had contributed to the Wall Street Crash; banks demanded early repayment of debts and often repossessed the property of those who could not afford to do so (also leading to evictions), and many banks failed after the Crash and were not perceived as safe. It was not until 1936 where deposits in commercial banks returned to their pre-Depression levels, after the Roosevelt administration put a number of safeguards in place and helped restore public faith in the American banking system.

In contrast to commercial banks, the total amount of money deposited in savings accounts continued to rise throughout the Great Depression, albeit at a much slower rate than in the 1920s. The reason for continued increase was due to the disproportionate impact the Depression had across socioeconomic groups - most working and middle-class Americans did not have the means to have a savings account