Public sector finances bulletin
The public sector finances statistical bulletin.
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Correction affecting Public Sector Finances, UK: August 2025 release 19 September 2025
We have been informed by HM Revenue and Customs that there was an error in the Value Added Tax (VAT) receipts data supplied to ONS and included in our Public Sector Finances release published on 19 September 2025.
The error affects our headline series public sector current budget deficit and public sector net borrowing, for the period January 2025 to August 2025. No earlier time periods are affected.
The next public sector finances release will be published on 21 October 2025 and will include corrections for this error, along with further regular data updates.
Correcting for the error reduces public sector net borrowing by between £200 million and £500 million per month within the period affected, resulting in a reduction in borrowing of £1 billion for the financial year ending March 2025, and a reduction of £2 billion for the financial year to date (April to August 2025).
The impact of the VAT receipts data error on headline series is illustrated in these tables (see Public Sector Finances, August 2025: VAT Correction), which also show how the restated version of public sector net borrowing compares with official forecasts.
There is no impact on our public sector finances headline series for central government net cash requirement, public sector net debt, or public sector net financial liabilities.
A statement from HM Revenue and Customs is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schedule-of-updates-for-hmrcs-statistics/2025-hmrc-statistics-announcements.
Public sector finances statistics are compiled on a National Accounts (accrued) basis while HM Revenue and Customs statistics are published on a cash basis. This means that although the overall magnitude of the impact is similar, the impact of the error on public sector finances statistics, particularly the time period affected, differs from the impact on statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs.
ONS apologises for any inconvenience caused.
The public sector finances statistical bulletin is published jointly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Treasury on a monthly basis and provides the latest available estimates for key public sector finance statistics, such as public sector net borrowing, public sector net debt and public sector current budget deficit/surplus.
The bulletin is structured with the latest headline figures, revisions and information on recent events and/or methodological changes which impact on the statistics, located at the front of the bulletin.
Following this there is some contextual information for users and then more detailed information on each of the key aggregates. Historic data on public sector net debt and public sector net borrowing have been included to put the latest figures in context. More detailed notes on the publication are located towards the end of the bulletin.
HM Treasury is no longer producing the public sector finances databank. For information on the key fiscal aggregates:
Go to the OBR for outturn and projected numbers for the key fiscal aggregates in financial years.
Go to the ONS for outturn data of the key fiscal aggregates in quarters, financial years and on a monthly basis.
Go to the ONS for a breakdown on receipts and expenditure.
Updates to this page
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Public Sector Finances, August 2025: VAT Correction added and further information added to details.
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Information for August has been added
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Updated for July 2025.
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June 2025 edition added.
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Updated for May 2025.
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Updated for April 2025.
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Updated for March 2025.
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Updated for February 2025.
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Updated for January 2025.
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Updated for December 2024.
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Updated for November 2024.
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Updated for October 2024.
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Updated for September 2024.
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Updated for August 2024.
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Updated for July 2024.
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Updated for June 2024.
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Updated for May 2024.
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Updated for April 2024.
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Updated for March 2024.
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Updated for February 2024
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Updated for January 2024.
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Updated for December 2023.
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Updated for November 2023.
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Updated for October 2023
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Updated for September 2023
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Updated for August 2023
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Updated for July 2023.
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Updated for June 2023
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Updated for May 2023
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Updated for April 2023
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Updated for March 2023
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Updated for February 2023
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Updated for January 2023
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Updated for December 2022
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Updated for November 2022
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Updated for October 2022
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Updated for September 2022
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Updated with corrected August 2022 Public Sector Finances release
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Updated for August 2022
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Updated for July 2022
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Updated with June data
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Updated with May data.
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Updated with April bulletin.
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Updated with March data.
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Updated for February 2022
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Updated for January 2022
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Updated with Public sector finances: December 2021
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Updated for November 2021
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Updated for October 2021
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Updated for September 2021
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Updated with corrected August 2021 Public Sector Finances release
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Public sector finances: August 2021 added
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updated for July 2021
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Updated for June 2021
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Updated with Public sector finances: May 2021
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Updated with Public sector finances: April 2021
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Updated with Public sector finances: March 2021
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Public sector finances: February 2021 added
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Updated with Public Sector Finances for January 2021
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Public sector finances: December 2020 and Public sector finances tables: December 2020 files added.
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Note: Public sector finances: November 2020 pdf and Public sector finances tables: November 2020 excel spreadsheet uploaded.
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Added September Public sector finances bulletin and tables.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: August 2020'
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Updated with Public sector finances bulletin: July 2020.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: June 2020'
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances May 2020' release.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances April 2020' release.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances March 2020' release.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances February 2020'.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances January 2019'.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances December 2019'.
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Updated with November's bulletin.
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Updated with data for October 2019. Correction note removed as it is no longer applicable.
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Updated with corrected September 2019 Public Sector Finances release.
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Updated with ONS announcement regarding the September 2019 Public Sector Finances release.
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Updated with data for September 2019.
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Updated with data for August 2019.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances bulletin' July data.
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Updated with Public Sector Finances: June 2019
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Updated with June's forecast.
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Updated with data for April 2019.
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Updated with data for March 2019.
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Updated with data for February 2019.
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Updated with 'Public Sector Finances: January 2019'
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: December 2018' and 'Public sector finances tables: December 2018'.
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Updated with November's public sector finance bulletin.
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Updated with October data.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: September 2018'.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: August 2018'.
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Updated with 'Public sector finances: July 2018'.
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Updated with Public sector finances: June 2018
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Updated with Public Sector Finances: May 2018.
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Updated with April data.
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Updated with March data.
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Updated with February data.
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Updated with January data
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Updated with December data.
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Updated with November data.
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Updated with October data
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Updated with September data
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File updated to correct an error in the estimation of local government and public sector net borrowing in 2016 and 2017.
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Updated with August data
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Updated with July data
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Updated with June data
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Updated with May data
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Updated with April data
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Updated with March's data
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Updated with February's data
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Updated with January's data
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Updated with December's data
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Updated with November's data
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Updated with October data
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Updated: Public Sector Finances; September 2016 pdf
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Updated with data from September
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Updated with: Public sector finances August 2016
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Updated with: public sector finance bulletin (July 2016)
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Updated with: Public Sector Finances June 2016
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Updated with: Public Sector Finances May 2016
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updated with april stats
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Updated with March 2016
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Updated February's PDF with bulletin as well as tables.
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Updated with February's bulletin.
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error in table REC3 corrected
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updated with January figures
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updated with december files
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Updated with November figures.
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Updated to include October's returns
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September bulletin added.
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Updated with August 2015 figures
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Updated for July 2015
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Updated with June 2015
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Updated with May's public sector finances statistical bulletin.
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April bulletin uploaded
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Latest monthly public sector finance bulletin (March 2015)
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Updated version
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Updated version
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Updated to include December 2014 outturn
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Updated for November return
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Updated with the latest monthly public sector finance bulletin (October 2014)
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September public sector finances published
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updated for August
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updated for July
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updated for june
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updated with May bulletin
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updated with April bulletin
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added March bulletin and tables
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February 2014 release published
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updated with january bulletin
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updated with new bulletin
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updated with november release
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added October bulletin
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Update for August release
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August update
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June update
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update for may
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First published.