Rachel Reeves’s second Budget as Chancellor has set the UK on a path towards levels of tax, spending and investment not seen for many years, according to the latest economic forecasts.

Here the PA news agency looks at what those forecasts suggest about the likely future of the country’s finances – and how they compare with decades gone by.

– Tax burden to reach new all-time high

The UK’s tax burden was already set to hit record levels in the years ahead, but new data shows the figure peaking even higher than previously thought.

The tax burden, or tax take, is a measure of how much the Government collects in taxation, expressed as a proportion of the total value of the economy.

When Rachel Reeves delivered her spring financial statement in March 2025, the Office for Budget Respo

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