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Data

UK government debt as a percentage of GDP

About this data

Source
Thomas and Dimsdale (2018) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
March 7, 2019
Date range
1727–2020
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Thomas and Dimsdale – A millennium of UK data

Retrieved on
March 7, 2019
Retrieved from
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/research-datasets
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Ryland Thomas and Nicholas Dimsdale. (2018). A Millennium of UK Data. Bank of England OBRA dataset.
Retrieved on
March 7, 2019
Retrieved from
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/research-datasets
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Ryland Thomas and Nicholas Dimsdale. (2018). A Millennium of UK Data. Bank of England OBRA dataset.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

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  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: UK government debt as a percentage of GDP”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Thomas and Dimsdale. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260513-060106/grapher/uk-government-debt-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-17272016.html [online resource] (archived on May 13, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Thomas and Dimsdale (2018) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Thomas and Dimsdale (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. “UK government debt as a percentage of GDP” [dataset]. Thomas and Dimsdale, “A millennium of UK data” [original data]. Retrieved May 13, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260513-060106/grapher/uk-government-debt-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-17272016.html (archived on May 13, 2026).

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