The UK Is Borrowing Over £100bn — Yet The Economy Is Still Going Nowhere
February’s figures show a country piling up debt without building stronger growth underneath it.
Another week, another set of numbers pointing in the same direction.
Britain is not in freefall. But it is not getting stronger either.
Borrowing is still high. Growth is weak. The private economy is struggling to build momentum. And when global conditions turn against us, the UK looks badly exposed.
💷 February’s Borrowing Was Brutal
The latest public finances release showed the UK borrowed £14.3 billion in February alone. That was £2.2 billion more than a year earlier and the second-highest February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, behind only February 2021 during the Covid era.
Across the financial year to February, total borrowing reached £125.9 billion. Britain’s total public sector net debt excluding public sector banks now stands at £2.88 trillion, equal to 93.1% of GDP. The Office for National Statistics says that leaves debt at levels last seen in the early 1960s.
High borrowing indicates the government is still spending far more than it brings in, and the gap must be financed with additional debt. That leaves Britain more exposed to higher interest rates, less able to absorb the next shock, and more likely to spend future tax revenue servicing existing commitments rather than improving public services or cutting taxes.
This is not borrowing for some one-off national emergency. It is borrowing to keep the system going.
There is one relative bright spot: borrowing so far this financial year is 8.7% below the same period last year. But some of that improvement may prove temporary. A surge in self-assessment receipts appears to have been flattered by taxpayers bringing forward capital gains ahead of the October 2024 tax changes — a timing effect that helps 2025-26, but could leave a softer comparison in January 2027.
📈 Debt Interest Is Eating More of the Budget
Central government debt interest payable hit £13.0 billion in February, up £5.5 billion on a year earlier. The ONS says recent movements in the Retail Prices Index added £4.8 billion to February’s total through the inflation-linked uplift on index-linked gilts.
Over the financial year to February, central government debt interest was £94.4 billion, up £13.5 billion on the same period a year earlier.
That matters because debt interest is dead money from the taxpayer’s point of view.
It does not build roads. It does not train doctors. It does not raise productivity. It is the price of financing what has already been spent.
📉 Growth Still Is Not There
This week, I wrote about the gap between Rachel Reeves’ rhetoric and the state of the economy. That gap is still there.
The UK ended 2025 in a per-person recession, and January delivered no growth.
She can blame Brexit, but that does not explain away flat growth, weak productivity, sluggish business activity, or an economy that struggles to generate sustained momentum outside the public sector.
High borrowing would be one thing if it were buying strong growth. It is not.
👔 The Private Economy Still Looks Weak
My second piece this week looked at a trend that should worry far more people than it does: the public sector continues to expand while the private economy looks soft.
That imbalance is a serious problem.
A country cannot sustainably grow richer by shifting ever more weight onto the state while the productive economy slows underneath it. The long-run tax base depends on private sector jobs, profits, investment and output.
More state. More spending. More pressure. But not more prosperity.
⚠️ The Gilt Market Is Flashing a Warning
UK gilt yields have jumped sharply as markets priced in the inflation risk from the Middle East energy shock and the possibility that interest rates stay higher for longer.
That matters because gilt yields are effectively the price the government pays to borrow in financial markets.
When gilt yields rise, government borrowing gets more expensive.
And when you already have nearly £2.9 trillion of debt, that is not a side story. It is central to the fiscal outlook.
⚡ Energy Security Matters More Than Ever
Britain’s weak energy security leaves the country more exposed when the world turns rough.
If policy leaves Britain more reliant on imported energy, then global shocks hit harder. Bills rise faster. Inflation becomes stickier. Rate cuts get pushed back. Borrowing costs go up. And the public finances come under even more pressure.
That is why this debate is bigger than energy bills. It is about national resilience.
🌤️ Spring Starts. Real Life Carries On.
Away from the spreadsheets, spring has finally started to show up.
Even in Wales, we have had several days of proper sunshine. After a long wet stretch, it makes a difference. I coach a junior football team, and this season has seen too many games called off across the leagues.
But last weekend the lads won their cup semi-final, and they have earned themselves a place in a cup final in April. That is real life. Family. Community. Kids playing football. People getting out again when the weather improves.
🚨 Better Weather Also Brings More Boats
Better weather brings another reality too.
Home Office small boats data for the last seven days show arrivals resumed on 18, 19 and 20 March, with 262, 144 and 116 people arriving respectively. That is 522 arrivals across three days.
So yes, spring brings sunshine. It also brings renewed Channel crossings. And once again, the cost lands on the taxpayer.
🔚 Final Thought
This week’s numbers all point the same way.
Britain borrowed £14.3 billion in February alone, the second-highest February figure on record. Total debt is now almost £2.9 trillion. Debt interest is swallowing more of the budget. Growth remains weak. The public sector keeps expanding while the private economy struggles to generate momentum. And when global energy markets wobble, the UK looks more exposed than it should.
Britain is not borrowing to transform the country. It is borrowing to stand still.
✍️ Jamie Jenkins
Stats Jamie | Stats, Facts & Opinions
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Am I being dumb? - Rachel borrowed £14.3M and paid £13M on loan repayments in February? Really? That's borrowing from Peter to pay Paul isn't it? Who are these lenders and why do they lend to such a numerically illiterate and fiscally irresponsible country? Why not cut out the middle man (which is Rachel) and just pass the money from their left to their right hand? How is this in any way "running the country"? My husband just shrugs his shoulders and says that's how the system works - what a really stupid system. What happens when these idiot lenders decide not to lend or Rachel has an emergency which means she misses a repayment?
Well it looks like the government/Rache from accounts has taken her fiscal leads from the failed Birmingham Council and is leading us all to the same final outcome of bankruptcy…