News reports often say that a government is borrowing an amount equivalent to, say, 10 per cent of gross domestic product. But it’s hard for most people to grasp what it means – and how serious that might be. The graphic shows the government borrowing figures for selected countries, but in terms of British pounds, per person, per week. The plight of the UK and US, and Ireland and Iceland, is clear to see.

The UK government is borrowing more than £50 per week for every person when gross median hourly pay is just over £10. The borrowing is equivalent to well over half the single person’s state pension every week.

The gap between the high borrowers and many other countries is significant: those in the eurozone are borrowing, on average, about half the amount of the UK this year, as reflected in the per person figures.

Figures show borrowing in sterling, per person, per week

Source: OECD, PRB, IMF and FT research. Borrowing figures are the gap between central and local government spending and receipts in 2009