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UK government borrowing fell to £11.7bn in November but still came in higher than expected, in the same month that chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the autumn budget.
This figure was £1.9bn less than in November 2024, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday. However, this was higher than expectations of £10bn.
November’s public sector net borrowing figure was lower than the £17.4bn recorded for October and was the lowest for the month since 2021.
Borrowing for the financial year to November totalled £132.3bn, which was £10bn more than the same eight-month period last year. It was also the second-highest April-to-November borrowing on record after 2020.
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Tom Davies, senior statistician at the ONS, said: “Despite an increase in spending this month’s borrowing was the lowest November for four years. The main reason for the drop from last year was increased receipts from taxes and national insurance contributions.”
The current budget deficit – borrowing to fund day-to-day public sector activities – was £5.6bn in November. The total current budget deficit for the financial year to November was £93bn, which was 7bn more than the same period last year.
Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was provisionally estimated to be 95.6% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of November.
Central government receipts came in at £86.1bn for November, which was £5.4bn more than the same month last year.
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