UK government borrowing was £17.7 billion in May 2025 — £700 million more than in May 2024 and the second-highest May borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, after that of May 2020.

UK government borrowing in the first two months of the financial year to May 2025 was £37.7 billion –£1.6 billion more than in the same two-month period of 2024 and the third-highest April to May borrowing since monthly records began, after those of 2020 and 2021.

That’s according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Nonetheless, the £37.7 billion borrowed by the UK in April and May was £2.9 billion less than the £40.7 billion forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March 2025.

The ONS said UK public sector net debt (PSND ex) now stands at more than £2.831 trillion.

It said the UK’s net debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of May 2025 was provisionally estimated at 96.4%, 0.5 percentage points more than a year ago.

ONS said: “We have increased our estimate of public sector net debt (PSND ex) at the end of April 2025 by £3.2 billion to £2,831.5 billion, since publishing our April 2025 bulletin. This change was largely because of quarterly updates to our local government and public corporations’ data.”

Thomas Pugh, economist at accountancy firm RSM UK, said the figures for April and May were better than some expected but the longer-term outlook may be more difficult.

“Looking ahead to the budget in the autumn, the underperformance of the economy and higher borrowing costs mean the chancellor may already have lost the £9.9bn of fiscal headroom that she clawed back in March,” said Pugh.

“Throw in the tough outlook for many government departments announced in the spending review and U-turns on welfare spending, and the chancellor will probably have to announce some top-up tax increases after the summer.”