Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportions of UK national debt were owned by (1) UK households, (2) the Bank of England, (3) overseas purchasers, (4) banks and financial houses, and (5) insurance and pension funds, in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020, and (e) 2021.
Answered on
1 September 2021
Most of the Government’s debt is in the form of publicly traded bonds (‘gilts’). The data most recently published on the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO) covering the distribution of gilt holdings are set out in the table below:
UK households | The Bank of England | Overseas holdings | Banks and other financial institutions | Insurance and pension funds | |
End-2017 | 0.2% | 24.4% | 27.9% | 16.0% | 31.2% |
End-2018 | 0.2% | 23.8% | 28.3% | 15.8% | 31.5% |
End-2019 | 0.2% | 23.4% | 30.1% | 13.3% | 32.8% |
End-2020 | 0.2% | 31.6% | 28.2% | 12.0% | 27.9% |
Q1 2021 | 0.2% | 32.5% | 27.6% | 11.1% | 28.4% |