Are prices still rising quickly?
But 63% below the 9.1% peak in 2022 — 2020 was an unusually low base.
Inflation · United Kingdom · 2025 (released 22 July 2026)
View the numbers
| Year | Inflation |
|---|
| 2010 | 3.3% |
| 2011 | 4.5% |
| 2012 | 2.8% |
| 2013 | 2.6% |
| 2014 | 1.5% |
| 2015 | 0% |
| 2016 | 0.7% |
| 2017 | 2.7% |
| 2018 | 2.5% |
| 2019 | 1.8% |
| 2020 | 0.9% |
| 2021 | 2.6% |
| 2022 | 9.1% |
| 2023 | 7.3% |
| 2024 | 2.5% |
| 2025 | 3.4% |
A lower inflation rate means prices are rising more slowly — not that prices have fallen. The price level itself has not gone back down.
Source: ONS, Consumer price inflation time series (series D7G7)
Read the full inflation analysis →Is net migration rising or falling?
But 81% below the 891k peak in 2022 — 2020 was an unusually low base.
Net migration · United Kingdom · YE Dec 2025 (provisional)
View the numbers
| Year | Net migration |
|---|
| 2012 | 195k |
| 2013 | 244k |
| 2014 | 284k |
| 2015 | 303k |
| 2016 | 249k |
| 2017 | 208k |
| 2018 | 276k |
| 2019 | 184k |
| 2020 | 93k |
| 2021 | 467k |
| 2022 | 891k |
| 2023 | 848k |
| 2024 | 331k |
| 2025 | 171k |
Arrivals minus departures. Whether a fall is welcome is a political judgement this site does not make; the number itself has more than halved twice since 2022.
Source: ONS, Long-term international migration, provisional (YE Dec 2025 edition, Table 1)
Read the full net migration analysis →Is the NHS waiting list coming down?
NHS waiting list · England · December 2025 (latest month: July 2026, 7.33m pathways / 6.23m patients)
View the numbers
| Year | NHS waiting list |
|---|
| 2010 | 2.46m |
| 2011 | 2.42m |
| 2012 | 2.63m |
| 2013 | 2.94m |
| 2014 | 3.17m |
| 2015 | 3.53m |
| 2016 | 3.83m |
| 2017 | 4m |
| 2018 | 4.28m |
| 2019 | 4.57m |
| 2020 | 4.59m |
| 2021 | 6.07m |
| 2022 | 7.2m |
| 2023 | 7.61m |
| 2024 | 7.46m |
| 2025 | 7.29m |
Treatment pathways, not unique patients — one person waiting for two treatments counts twice. The list has edged down from its 2023 peak but remains close to three times its 2012 level.
Source: NHS England, RTT Overview Timeseries (including estimates for missing trusts)
Read the full nhs waiting list analysis →Are homes getting more affordable?
7.5×
→ Broadly stable since 2020
Housing affordability · England and Wales · 2025 (released 26 March 2026)
View the numbers
| Year | Housing affordability |
|---|
| 2010 | 6.8× |
| 2011 | 6.7× |
| 2012 | 6.8× |
| 2013 | 6.7× |
| 2014 | 7.0× |
| 2015 | 7.4× |
| 2016 | 7.6× |
| 2017 | 7.8× |
| 2018 | 7.8× |
| 2019 | 7.7× |
| 2020 | 7.8× |
| 2021 | 8.9× |
| 2022 | 8.4× |
| 2023 | 8.3× |
| 2024 | 7.7× |
| 2025 | 7.5× |
Median house price divided by median full-time earnings, England and Wales. Improved from the 2021 peak as earnings rose faster than prices, but still far above the 2010 level.
Source: ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales (Table 1c, median ratio)
Read the full housing affordability analysis →Is unemployment rising?
But 40% below the 8.1% peak in 2011 — 2020 was an unusually low base.
Unemployment · United Kingdom · 2025 (released 21 July 2026)
View the numbers
| Year | Unemployment |
|---|
| 2010 | 7.9% |
| 2011 | 8.1% |
| 2012 | 7.9% |
| 2013 | 7.6% |
| 2014 | 6.2% |
| 2015 | 5.4% |
| 2016 | 4.9% |
| 2017 | 4.4% |
| 2018 | 4.1% |
| 2019 | 3.8% |
| 2020 | 4.6% |
| 2021 | 4.6% |
| 2022 | 3.8% |
| 2023 | 4.1% |
| 2024 | 4.3% |
| 2025 | 4.9% |
Labour Force Survey estimates lost accredited status in November 2023 and are published as official statistics in development — read the trend, not single-period moves.
Source: ONS, Labour market statistics (series MGSX) — official statistics in development
Read the full unemployment analysis →Is government debt still climbing?
93.7%
→ Broadly stable since 2020
Public debt · United Kingdom · 2025-26 (provisional; data as at 21 July 2026)
Provisional from 2025 — Latest year provisional.
View the numbers
| Year | Public debt |
|---|
| 2010 | 70.6% |
| 2011 | 73.9% |
| 2012 | 77.2% |
| 2013 | 78.8% |
| 2014 | 81.1% |
| 2015 | 80.6% |
| 2016 | 82.7% |
| 2017 | 81.6% |
| 2018 | 79.6% |
| 2019 | 84.5% |
| 2020 | 95.4% |
| 2021 | 94.3% |
| 2022 | 93.2% |
| 2023 | 94.2% |
| 2024 | 93.4% |
| 2025 | 93.7% |
Debt as a share of the economy, not a cash total. It rose sharply with COVID and has been broadly flat since — high by recent standards, though not without precedent historically.
Source: ONS, Public sector finances (series HF6X); OBR Public Finances Databank
Read the full public debt analysis →Is crime rising or falling?
4.33m
↓ Down 23% since 2020
Crime (survey) · England and Wales · Year ending March 2026 (released 23 July 2026)
View the numbers
| Year | Crime (survey) |
|---|
| 2010 | 9.54m |
| 2011 | 9.71m |
| 2012 | 9.59m |
| 2013 | 8.76m |
| 2014 | 7.55m |
| 2015 | 7.18m |
| 2016 | 6.53m |
| 2017 | 6.06m |
| 2018 | 6.25m |
| 2019 | 6.43m |
| 2020 | 5.66m |
| 2023 | 4.39m |
| 2024 | 4.59m |
| 2025 | 4.6m |
| 2026 | 4.33m |
Crime Survey incidents for England and Wales, excluding fraud. No figures exist for the years ending March 2021 and 2022 — COVID suspended interviewing, so the gap is real, not a dip.
Source: ONS, Crime in England and Wales: Appendix Table A1a
Read the full crime (survey) analysis →How many children are below the poverty line?
27.4%
↓ Down 11% since 2020
Child poverty · United Kingdom · FYE 2025 (released 26 March 2026)
Methodology break at 2021: DWP integrated benefit records into the survey — not comparable either side
View the numbers
| Year | Child poverty |
|---|
| 2011 | 27.2% |
| 2012 | 27% |
| 2013 | 27.2% |
| 2014 | 27.5% |
| 2015 | 28.5% |
| 2016 | 29.4% |
| 2017 | 30% |
| 2018 | 29.3% |
| 2019 | 29.4% |
| 2020 | 30.7% |
| 2021 | 27.1% |
| 2022 | 27.3% |
| 2023 | 28.8% |
| 2024 | 27.7% |
| 2025 | 27.4% |
A relative-income measure after housing costs, not a count of destitution. A break in series at 2021/22 means figures either side are not comparable.
Source: DWP, Households Below Average Income (Table 1.4a)
Read the full child poverty analysis →These are observations, not forecasts. Where a series has a break — child poverty in 2021/22, crime during the COVID interviewing suspension — the chart shows it rather than smoothing over it, because a methodological step can look exactly like a real change if you hide it.