Back when the Beatles were having their first number one, the government spent £12bn a year, now it's nearer £700bn. See how the numbers have changed
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• Tax receipts since 1963
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How big was government spending then. The Beatles, pictured in June 1963. Photograph: PA
Back when the Beatles were having their first number one, the government spent £12bn a year, now it's over £600bn. See how the numbers have changed — as figures and as percentage of GDP.
HM Treasury publishes a monthly public finances databank spreadsheet (worth subscribing to the email, by the way) - and we update these as they change. Roll over lines for data
The widening gap between what the government has coming in and what's going out is striking - especially if you look at the big recessions of the last few decades - the mid-1970s, the early 1980s and 2008. We've used percentage of GDP so you can see it in real terms each year.
We also break down public spending by government department - you can read more about that here - or click around the graphic below. Zoom around the graphic and make it fullscreen above - or download this graphic as a PDF
