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

Social protection spending as a share of GDP

Year ending March 2026 Final

13.3%percent of GDP

Social protection spending as a share of GDP was 13.3% in the year ending March 2026, up 0.1 percentage points from 13.2% in the year ending March 2025.

▲ 0.8% · +0.1% against Year ending March 2025 (previous period)

  1. HM Treasury percentage
  2. Year ending March 2026
  3. published 2 September 2026
  4. Table 4.4
  5. row “10. Social protection”
  6. column “2025-26”
  7. cell value 13.3

Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026

Social protection spending as a share of GDP: Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026LabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour0%5%10%20052010201520202025Year ending March 2003: 12% percent of GDP · published 17 July 2025Year ending March 2004: 12.2% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2005: 12.2% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2006: 12% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2007: 11.9% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2008: 12% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2009: 12.8% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2010: 14.2% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2011: 14.1% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2012: 14.6% percent of GDP · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2013: 14.6% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2014: 14% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2015: 13.8% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2016: 13.6% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2017: 13.1% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2018: 12.7% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2019: 12.5% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2020: 12.2% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2021: 14.2% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2022: 12.5% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2023: 12.2% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2024: 13.1% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2025: 13.2% percent of GDP (revised) · published 2 September 2026Year ending March 2026: 13.3% percent 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

Social protection spending divided by GDP for the same year.

What this doesn’t measure

Spending per person or by benefit.

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 202513.3%13.2%−0.1% (−0.8%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 202413.3%13.1%−0.2% (−1.5%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 202312.5%12.2%−0.3% (−2.4%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 202212.7%12.5%−0.2% (−1.6%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 202114.3%14.2%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 202012.3%12.2%−0.1% (−0.8%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201912.6%12.5%−0.1% (−0.8%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201812.8%12.7%−0.1% (−0.8%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201713.2%13.1%−0.1% (−0.8%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201613.7%13.6%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201513.9%13.8%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201414.1%14%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201314.7%14.6%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201114.2%14.1%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 201014.3%14.2%−0.1% (−0.7%)17 July 2025 → 2 September 2026
Year ending March 200612.1%12%−0.1% (−0.8%)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
10. Social protection
Column
2025-26
Cell value
13.3
Geography
United Kingdom
Unit
percent of GDP
API
/api/metrics/spend_social_protection_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 2024–13.1%Year ending March 202413.3%Year ending March 2026↑ 1.5%
Conservative 2019–202412.5%Year ending March 201913.1%Year ending March 2024↑ 4.8%
Conservative 2017–201913.1%Year ending March 201712.5%Year ending March 2019↓ 4.6%
Conservative 2015–201713.8%Year ending March 201513.1%Year ending March 2017↓ 5.1%
Coalition 2010–201514.2%Year ending March 201013.8%Year ending March 2015↓ 2.8%
Labour 2005–201012.2%Year ending March 200514.2%Year ending March 2010↑ 16.4%

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)