UK public finances at a glance

The pre-Budget report revealed Alistair Darling's latest views on the state of the UK economy and the government's finances. The UK remains in recession following six successive quarters of negative growth, and government borrowing remains at record levels.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

The chancellor has been forced to revise his expectations for economic growth as the recession has deepened. In last year's pre-Budget report he predicted that the economy would shrink by 1% this year. He now expects it to have shrunk by 4.75%. However the chancellor still expects the economy to grow modestly in 2010 and strongly in 2011.

TAX INCOME

Negative economic growth reduces the amount of tax the government receives. The government's income from tax is expected to total less than £500bn for 2009-10. That compares with £516bn and £505bn for the previous two years.

SPENDING

A lower income from taxes is likely to hit government spending plans. The government expects to spend a total of £676bn in 2009-10, with welfare, health and education the main areas of expenditure. Cuts in spending are likely over the coming years.

BORROWING

The gap between income and spending is bridged through borrowing, and the recession is expected to have increased government borrowing to record levels. Further cuts in government spending or tax increases are likely in order to reduce this borrowing level.