As figures from the Office for National Statistics show, government borrowing has exploded in 2020 as the finiancial toll of dealing with the coronavirus takes hold. Up until the pandemic really hit the country in the spring, cumulative public sector net borrowing was on a similar level to 2019. As this infographic shows though the divergence since has been massive.
As noted by the ONS, the latest figures for September show that “the public sector spent more money than it received in taxes and other income. Over this period, the public sector borrowed £36.1 billion, £28.4 billion more than it borrowed in September 2019. The substantial increases in borrowing in recent months reflect the emerging effects of government coronavirus (COVID-19) policies.”
This chart presents a comparison of cumulative monthly UK government borrowing in 2019 and 2020.
