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…

The survey also asks about personal well-being. In the latest period: • 12% reported low levels of happiness • 11% reported low levels of life satisfaction • 9% reported low levels of feeling the things they do in life are worthwhile • 33% reported high levels of anxiety

Among the 56% of adults who reported that their cost of living had increased compared to a month ago, 93% reported rising food shop prices and 69% reported increases in gas or electricity bills as reasons for this increase.

The latest insights from our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (4 February to 1 March 2026). The cost of living (88%), NHS (82%), and the economy (69%) have been the most commonly reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022. Read more ➡️ ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…

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…