UK public debt fell from 259% of GDP in 1946 to 128% ten years later
Real growth averaged 2.9% a year and the real yield -2.0% over the ten years after the 1946 peak. After the 1923 peak the ratio rose to 190% in ten years, with real growth 1.4% and a real yield of +6.0%
Macro · History of debt · Bank of England, A millennium of macroeconomic data for the UK · 5 Nov 2026