Outstanding council borrowing, 2010 to 2020: record highs and lows

The extremes of outstanding council borrowing, 2010 to 2020 as published by MHCLG, across the 11 periods held here (2010 Q1 to 2020 Q1). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

The latest figure, £126.9bn in 2020 Q1, is the highest in the whole published series of 11 periods. The rule: a period counts as beaten only when its figure is strictly below the latest, and the claim is only made when it reaches back at least five years.

Highest published

£126.9bn2020 Q1

Lowest published

£70.1bn2010 Q1

The full series

Outstanding council borrowing, 2010 to 2020: 2010 Q1 to 2020 Q1LabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservative050k100k2010201220142016201820202010 Q1: £70.1bn £ million · published 3 September 20262011 Q1: £73.8bn £ million · published 3 September 20262012 Q1: £85.6bn £ million · published 3 September 20262013 Q1: £87.9bn £ million · published 3 September 20262014 Q1: £89.1bn £ million · published 3 September 20262015 Q1: £91.9bn £ million · published 3 September 20262016 Q1: £94.4bn £ million · published 3 September 20262017 Q1: £99.2bn £ million · published 3 September 20262018 Q1: £107.1bn £ million · published 3 September 20262019 Q1: £115bn £ million · published 3 September 20262020 Q1: £126.9bn £ million · published 3 September 2026

Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover, tap or use arrow keys to read a value; tap again to unpin
The chart as a table
PeriodOutstanding council borrowing, 2010 to 2020
2010 Q1£70.1bn
2011 Q1£73.8bn
2012 Q1£85.6bn
2013 Q1£87.9bn
2014 Q1£89.1bn
2015 Q1£91.9bn
2016 Q1£94.4bn
2017 Q1£99.2bn
2018 Q1£107.1bn
2019 Q1£115bn
2020 Q1£126.9bn

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.