UK welfare spending surpassed infrastructure investment by £1.1 trillion

A report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) reveals that the United Kingdom has spent £1.1 trillion more on welfare than on infrastructure over the last two decades. Between 2006/07 and 2024/25, the UK allocated £1.6 trillion to working-age benefits, a figure that significantly outpaced public spending on transport, housing, science, technology, and economic development.

The CSJ report, titled ‘State of Dependency’, highlights a reversal in economic priorities. Between 1945 and 1979, infrastructure investment accounted for 4.5% of GDP compared to 2.5% for working-age welfare. Currently, welfare spending stands at 5% of GDP, while infrastructure investment remains at 2.5%.

This spending imbalance has reportedly impacted regions with high worklessness, such as the North, the Midlands, and South Wales, where economic output per person has seen minimal growth. Ben Gregg, head of welfare at the CSJ, stated that governments have used welfare to ‘numb the pain’ of economic decline rather than reversing it through investment. The findings arrive as Chancellor John Healey prepares for the October 28 Budget amid calls to reduce benefit spending.