HM Treasury PESA · 2025-26
Where does UK government spending go?
Total managed expenditure is £1,360.1bn in 2025-26, up 30.7% from £1,040.9bn in 2021-22. This page breaks it down by function and department using HM Treasury figures.
- Total managed expenditure
- £1,360.1bn
- 2025-26
- Social security benefits
- £331.9bn
- 24.4% of total
- Debt interest
- £96.9bn
- 7.1% of total
UK public spending by function, 2024-25
- Social protection£386.5bn
- Health£242.5bn
- General public services£159.0bn
- Education£122.7bn
- Economic affairs£88.9bn
- Defence£63.7bn
- Public order and safety£51.7bn
- Housing and community£22.0bn
- Environment protection£17.1bn
- Recreation culture religion£14.1bn
Departmental budgets, 2025-26
- Health and Social Care£217.4bn
- Education£97.3bn
- Defence£62.0bn
- Scottish Government£47.8bn
- Transport£29.0bn
- Welsh Government£21.6bn
- Home Office£19.6bn
- Northern Ireland Executive£19.1bn
- Science Innovation and Technology£15.0bn
- Work and Pensions administration£14.8bn
- Justice£14.1bn
- MHCLG Local Government£13.8bn
- Energy Security and Net Zero£13.3bn
- MHCLG Housing and Communities£13.0bn
- Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office£10.9bn
- Environment Food and Rural Affairs£7.3bn
- HM Revenue and Customs£6.7bn
- Single Intelligence Account£4.9bn
- Business and Trade£3.4bn
- Small and Independent Bodies£3.3bn
- Culture Media and Sport£2.2bn
- HM Treasury£1.2bn
- Cabinet Office£1.1bn
- Law Officers Departments£982.0m
DEL is the controllable budget. Benefit spending sits mostly in AME, so the Work and Pensions DEL line understates what the department pays out.
Total spending since 2021-22
- 2021-22£1,040.9bn
- 2022-23£1,160.7bn
- 2023-24£1,230.8bn
- 2024-25£1,290.0bn
- 2025-26£1,360.1bn
UK government spending: common questions
How much does the UK government spend?
Total managed expenditure is £1,360.1bn in 2025-26 (HM Treasury PESA).
What does the UK government spend the most on?
Social protection is the largest function in 2024-25 at £386.5bn, followed by Health at £242.5bn.
How much does the UK spend on debt interest?
Central government debt interest is £96.9bn in 2025-26.
How much is spent on social security benefits?
Social security benefits in resource AME are £331.9bn in 2025-26, about 24.4% of total managed expenditure.
What is the difference between DEL and AME?
Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL, £639.8bn in 2025-26) are the budgets departments control. Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) covers demand-led items such as benefits and debt interest.