UK in context: latest evidence and sources
Selected 13-country comparison set
What does Britain spend and owe per resident?
Seven separate measures put the UK beside the United States, China, Russia, Ukraine and eight large European economies. Each row keeps its own definition, year and comparable-country denominator. The figures are not added together into an overall score.
| Measure | UK per resident | UK rank | Comparison | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government debt outstanding | Unavailable | Not ranked | Comparison unavailable | 2026 |
| Foreign / overseas aid | US$247 | 5th highest of 10 comparable donors | Middle of 10 comparable donors | 2025 |
| Defence spending | US$1,280 | 7th highest of 13 comparable countries | Middle of 13 comparable countries | 2025 |
| Public social / welfare spending | Unavailable | Not ranked | Comparison unavailable | 2023 |
| Total healthcare spending | US$5,860 | 4th highest of 7 comparable countries | Only Ireland, Germany and Netherlands are higher | 2024 |
| Tax collected | Unavailable | Not ranked | Comparison unavailable | 2024 |
| Debt interest | Unavailable | Not ranked | Comparison unavailable | 2024 |
Ranking method: highest amount per resident first, with tied values sharing a competition rank.
Coverage: countries without a genuinely comparable observation are excluded from the denominator for that measure, never treated as zero.
2026 comparison
Government debt outstanding
General-government gross debt expressed in current US dollars per resident.
Comparable figures are currently unavailable.
This measure is withheld until its authoritative source can be validated. Other comparison measures continue independently.
13 countries not included in this ranking
- United Kingdom: Source temporarily unavailable
- United States: Source temporarily unavailable
- China: Source temporarily unavailable
- Russia: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ukraine: Source temporarily unavailable
- Germany: Source temporarily unavailable
- France: Source temporarily unavailable
- Italy: Source temporarily unavailable
- Spain: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ireland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Netherlands: Source temporarily unavailable
- Switzerland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Poland: Source temporarily unavailable
2025 comparison
Foreign / overseas aid
Official development assistance supplied by comparable providers, expressed in current US dollars per resident.
| Rank | Country | USD per resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | US$503 | Estimate |
| 2 | Netherlands | US$425 | Estimate |
| 3 | Ireland | US$382 | Estimate |
| 4 | Germany | US$348 | Estimate |
| 5 | United Kingdom | US$247 | Estimate |
| 6 | France | US$211 | Estimate |
| 7 | Italy | US$124 | Estimate |
| 8 | Spain | US$104 | Estimate |
| 9 | United States | US$85 | Estimate |
| 10 | Poland | US$44 | Estimate |
3 countries not included in this ranking
- China: Outside the comparable OECD donor series
- Russia: Outside the comparable OECD donor series
- Ukraine: Outside the comparable OECD donor series
2025 comparison
Defence spending
Military expenditure expressed in current US dollars per resident.
| Rank | Country | USD per resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | US$2,792 | Estimate |
| 2 | Ukraine | US$2,158 | Estimate |
| 3 | Netherlands | US$1,600 | Estimate |
| 4 | Germany | US$1,360 | Estimate |
| 5 | Russia | US$1,327 | Estimate |
| 6 | Poland | US$1,283 | Estimate |
| 7 | United Kingdom | US$1,280 | Estimate |
| 8 | France | US$990 | Estimate |
| 9 | Switzerland | US$835 | Estimate |
| 10 | Italy | US$817 | Estimate |
| 11 | Spain | US$815 | Estimate |
| 12 | Ireland | US$283 | Estimate |
| 13 | China | US$239 | Estimate |
2023 comparison
Public social / welfare spending
Public social expenditure expressed in current US dollars per resident.
Public social expenditure includes areas such as pensions, health, family support and unemployment programmes, so it overlaps conceptually with healthcare expenditure and must not be added to it as a non-overlapping category.
Comparable figures are currently unavailable.
This measure is withheld until its authoritative source can be validated. Other comparison measures continue independently.
13 countries not included in this ranking
- United Kingdom: Source temporarily unavailable
- United States: Source temporarily unavailable
- China: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Russia: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Ukraine: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Germany: Source temporarily unavailable
- France: Source temporarily unavailable
- Italy: Source temporarily unavailable
- Spain: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ireland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Netherlands: Source temporarily unavailable
- Switzerland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Poland: Source temporarily unavailable
2024 comparison
Total healthcare spending
Current health expenditure, public plus private, expressed in current US dollars per resident.
This is total current health expenditure, not NHS spending or government-only health expenditure.
| Rank | Country | USD per resident | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland | US$7,395 | Historical observation |
| 2 | Germany | US$6,849 | Historical observation |
| 3 | Netherlands | US$6,845 | Historical observation |
| 4 | United Kingdom | US$5,860 | Historical observation |
| 5 | France | US$5,327 | Historical observation |
| 6 | Italy | US$3,398 | Historical observation |
| 7 | Poland | US$2,014 | Historical observation |
6 countries not included in this ranking
- United States: No comparable value published
- China: No comparable value published
- Russia: No comparable value published
- Ukraine: No comparable value published
- Spain: No comparable value published
- Switzerland: No comparable value published
2024 comparison
Tax collected
Economy-wide general-government tax revenue expressed in current US dollars per resident.
This is total tax revenue divided by population, not the tax bill of an average individual.
Comparable figures are currently unavailable.
This measure is withheld until its authoritative source can be validated. Other comparison measures continue independently.
13 countries not included in this ranking
- United Kingdom: Source temporarily unavailable
- United States: Source temporarily unavailable
- China: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Russia: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Ukraine: Outside the comparable OECD series
- Germany: Source temporarily unavailable
- France: Source temporarily unavailable
- Italy: Source temporarily unavailable
- Spain: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ireland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Netherlands: Source temporarily unavailable
- Switzerland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Poland: Source temporarily unavailable
2024 comparison
Debt interest
Interest paid on public debt expressed in current US dollars per resident.
Comparable figures are currently unavailable.
This measure is withheld until its authoritative source can be validated. Other comparison measures continue independently.
13 countries not included in this ranking
- United Kingdom: Source temporarily unavailable
- United States: Source temporarily unavailable
- China: Source temporarily unavailable
- Russia: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ukraine: Source temporarily unavailable
- Germany: Source temporarily unavailable
- France: Source temporarily unavailable
- Italy: Source temporarily unavailable
- Spain: Source temporarily unavailable
- Ireland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Netherlands: Source temporarily unavailable
- Switzerland: Source temporarily unavailable
- Poland: Source temporarily unavailable