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HM Treasury · Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2026, chapter 4: expenditure by function

Public order spending as a share of GDP

Year ending March 2026 Final

1.8%per cent of GDP

Public order spending as a share of GDP was 1.8% in the year ending March 2026, unchanged from the previous period (Year ending March 2025).

No change against Year ending March 2025 (previous period)

  1. HM Treasury rate
  2. Year ending March 2026
  3. published 2 September 2026
  4. Table 4.4
  5. row “3. Public order and safety”
  6. column “2025-26”
  7. cell value 1.8

Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026

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 (revised) · 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 (revised) · 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 or use arrow keys to read a value

What this measures

Public sector spending on public order and safety as a percentage of GDP.

What this doesn’t measure

Spending in cash terms, or spending per resident.

Important caveat

PESA classifies spending by function using the UN COFOG framework, so "health" is every public body's spending on health services, not the Department of Health's budget, and "defence" follows COFOG rather than the NATO definition. Figures are outturn for the whole public sector including local government and public corporations. Cash figures rise with inflation; the real-terms table restates them at 2024-25 prices with the GDP deflator. Classification changes are footnoted in the table: student loans from 2011-12, Network Rail from 2011-12 and the treatment of EU transactions after 2020. Total managed expenditure includes accounting adjustments that are not allocated to any function.

Revision history

PeriodFirst publishedCurrentRevisionReleases
Year ending March 20241.8%1.7%−0.1% (−5.6%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 20211.9%1.8%−0.1% (−5.3%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026

Source

Publisher
HM Treasury
Publication
Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2026, chapter 4: expenditure by function
Release
2026-09-02, published 2 September 2026
Source file
PESA_2026_CP_Chapter_4_tables.xlsx
File SHA-256
50ae80d95c4e542c34a17dfa8bc302858ca6508b6753e27bb31920cec9bb75c4
Retrieved
4 September 2026
Sheet
4_4
Table
Table 4.4
Row
3. Public order and safety
Column
2025-26
Cell value
1.8
Geography
United Kingdom
Unit
per cent of GDP
API
/api/metrics/spend_public_order_gdp · /series · /vintages

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Labour 2024–1.7%Year ending March 20241.8%Year ending March 2026↑ 5.9%
Conservative 2019–20241.5%Year ending March 20191.7%Year ending March 2024↑ 13.3%
Conservative 2017–20191.5%Year ending March 20171.5%Year ending March 2019→ 0.0%
Conservative 2015–20171.6%Year ending March 20151.5%Year ending March 2017↓ 6.3%
Coalition 2010–20152.2%Year ending March 20101.6%Year ending March 2015↓ 27.3%
Labour 2005–20102.1%Year ending March 20052.2%Year ending March 2010↑ 4.8%

Full comparison with chart

Release
2026-09-02 · publication page
Last updated
2 September 2026
Next release expected
Not yet announced (estimated from the usual cadence)