Civometry

Public order spending as a share of GDP: record highs and lows

The extremes of public order spending as a share of gdp as published by HM Treasury, across the 24 periods held here (Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

Highest published

2.2%Year ending March 2010

Lowest published

1.5%Year ending March 2017 — the same figure was published for at least one other period

The full series

Public order spending as a share of GDP: Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026LabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour0%1%2%20052010201520202025Year ending March 2003: 2% per cent of GDP · published 17 July 2025Year ending March 2004: 2.1% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2005: 2.1% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2006: 2.1% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2007: 2% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2008: 2% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2009: 2.1% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2010: 2.2% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2011: 2% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2012: 1.9% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2013: 1.8% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2014: 1.6% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2015: 1.6% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2016: 1.6% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2017: 1.5% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2018: 1.5% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2019: 1.5% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2020: 1.5% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2021: 1.8% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2022: 1.7% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2023: 1.7% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2024: 1.7% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2025: 1.8% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2026: 1.8% per cent of GDP · published 2 September 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover, tap or use arrow keys to read a value; tap again to unpin
The chart as a table
PeriodPublic order spending as a share of GDP
Year ending March 20032%
Year ending March 20042.1%
Year ending March 20052.1%
Year ending March 20062.1%
Year ending March 20072%
Year ending March 20082%
Year ending March 20092.1%
Year ending March 20102.2%
Year ending March 20112%
Year ending March 20121.9%
Year ending March 20131.8%
Year ending March 20141.6%
Year ending March 20151.6%
Year ending March 20161.6%
Year ending March 20171.5%
Year ending March 20181.5%
Year ending March 20191.5%
Year ending March 20201.5%
Year ending March 20211.8%
Year ending March 20221.7%
Year ending March 20231.7%
Year ending March 20241.7%
Year ending March 20251.8%
Year ending March 20261.8%

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.