Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each year from 2003–4 to 2014–15 inclusive, (1) what was the national debt, expressed in (a) monetary terms, and (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product, and (2) what interest was paid on that debt, expressed in (a) monetary terms, and (b) in per capita terms.

In 2010 the coalition government inherited a deficit of 10.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) – the largest since the Second World War. With such a high deficit, it is inevitable that debt has continued to rise. Over the last parliament the government made substantial progress towards stabilising the public finances, halving the deficit from its post-war peak to 5 per cent of GDP in 2014-15. The Office for Budget Responsibility have forecast that debt as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2014/15, and this year will fall for the first time in 14 years as a result of the government’s actions.

The table below provides Public Sector Net Debt (excluding public sector banks) and debt interest expenditure figures for each year in the period 2003/04 to 2014/15. For net debt, the figures are provided in both nominal terms and as a percentage of GDP; for debt interest, the figures are given in nominal terms and pounds sterling per capita.