Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Public sector borrowing was £14.3 billion in February 2026, £2.2 billion more than in February 2025 and the second highest February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, behind that of 2021. Read the article ➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/govern…

Commenting on today’s public sector finances figures for February 2026, ONS senior statistician Tom Davies said ⬇️

Public sector net financial liabilities excluding public sector banks were provisionally estimated at 82.5% of GDP at the end of February 2026. This was 10.6 percentage points less than public sector net debt.

Public sector borrowing was £14.3 billion in February 2026, £2.2 billion more than in February 2025 and the second highest February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, behind that of 2021. Read the article ➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/govern…

📊 Join the next ONS Economic Forum on Monday 23 March for the latest developments on: · UK economic trends · our new real-time indicators dashboard · changes to the CPI basket of goods · population estimates and projections 🔗 eventbrite.co.uk/e/ons-economic…

Explore our Economic activity and social change real-time indicators, UK, dashboard. It’s updated weekly and provides an overview of the UK economy and society, based on rapid response surveys, novel data sources, and innovative methods. Dashboard ➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/econom…

Transport indicators in Feb 2026 compared with Jan 2026 show: · the seasonally adjusted number of daily UK flights increased 1% · the total number of ship visits to major UK ports decreased 2% Read more ➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/econom…

Wholesale gas and electricity prices decreased in Feb 2026 compared with Jan 2026, coinciding with milder-than-average weather and an easing in supply constraints. · The System Average Price of gas decreased by 11% · The System Price of electricity decreased by 20%

The latest economic activity and social change data show in Feb 2026 compared with Jan 2026 decreases in: · UK retail footfall (4%) · debit card spending (2%) · number of potential redundancies (2%) In contrast, the seasonally adjusted Direct Debit failure rate increased by 1%

14% of businesses reported falling demand of goods and services as the main concern for their business when looking ahead to Apr 2026. Please note more than 70% of responses were received before the significant rise in oil prices on 9 Mar 2026.

Of trading businesses: · 22% expect the prices of goods or services they sell to increase in Apr 2026. · 29% cited labour costs as a factor for considering raising prices in Apr 2026 Read more ➡️ ons.gov.uk/businessindust…

25% of trading businesses reported a decrease in turnover in Feb 2026 when compared with the previous month - down 6 percentage points from Jan 2026 but broadly stable with Feb 2025. Economic uncertainty remains the most reported challenge affecting turnover (32%).

Vacancy numbers remain broadly flat with early estimates suggesting a decrease of 6,000 to 721,000 in the three months to February 2026. Read the release ➡ ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…

Regular wage growth in the three months to January 2026 was 3.8% excluding bonuses, down from 4.1 % the previous period. Including bonuses the rate was 3.9%, down from 4.2% in the previous period. Read the release ➡ ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…

The revised estimate of payrolled workers in January 2026 shows an increase of 6,000 from December 2025, and provisional estimates for February 2026 show a further increase of 20,000. Read the release ➡️ ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…

Liz McKeown concluded by saying: (quote 3 of 3)

Liz McKeown went on to say: (quote 2 of 3)

We’ve published the latest labour market figures. Commenting on today’s figures, ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown said: (quote 1 of 3) Read the latest Labour market overview ➡️ ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…

New analysis exploring the relationship between child and parental mental health and school outcomes for households in England who, at the time of the 2021 Census had children aged between 5 to 16 years living with two parents (or step-parents). ➡️ ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…

11,512 deaths were registered in England and Wales, week ending 6 March 2026: · 3.0% lower than expected (360 fewer deaths) · 12.8% involved influenza or pneumonia (1,470 deaths) · 0.2% involved Coronavirus (24 deaths) Dashboard ➡️ ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…

Items removed from the basket include: · Sheet wrapping paper – as many of us are now buying wrapping paper in rolls · European and New World white wine are out and have been replaced with a singular white wine item

Items added to the 2026 basket include: · Croissants, houmous and alcohol-free beer – reflecting changing tastes · Dashboard cameras – car owners increasing their security on the roads · Pet grooming – reflecting a growing service for pet owners

We’ve released the annual changes to our inflation basket of goods and services for 2026. The virtual basket represents over 750 carefully selected goods and services consumers typically spend their money on. Read more ➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/inflat…