UK public sector borrowing grows to 2nd-highest February on record

UK public sector borrowing grew on-year last month to nearly a new record for February, numbers on Friday showed.

According to the Office for National Statistics, net borrowing amounted to £14.33 billion in February, widened from £12.13 billion a year prior and swung from a surplus of £31.86 billion in January 2026.

It was the second-highest February borrowing figure since monthly records began in 1993, and was only behind £15.48 billion in 2021, in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Borrowing in the fiscal year-to-date totalled £125.9 billion, down 8.7% over the same 11-month period a year ago, but still the fourth-highest April to February borrowing on record.

Borrowing in the fiscal year to February 2026 was provisionally estimated at 4.1% of gross domestic product, down 0.6 percentage point from the same period a year ago.

The ONS said borrowing rose in February from last year due to the timing of central government debt interest payable.

Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was provisionally estimated at 93.1% of GDP at the end of February 2026, and remains at levels last seen in the early 1960s, the ONS said.

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