UK government borrowing was £23.3 billion in May 2026 — £5.4 billion or 30.4% more than in May 2025, and £5.6 billion more than the £17.7 billion forecast by the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

That’s according to latest figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), which said the UK’s public sector net debt excluding public sector banks (PSND-ex) has reached £2.984 trillion.

UK central government debt interest payable was £11.7 billion in May 2026 — £4.1 billion or 54.4% more than in May 2025 and the highest in any May on record.

UK borrowing in the financial year (FY) to May 2026 was £46.3 billion — 8.9 billion or 23.9% more than in the FY to May 2025, and £7.7 billion more than the £38.6 billion forecast by the OBR.

The UK public sector net debt was provisionally estimated at 95.1% of GDP at the end of May 2026 — this was 0.4 percentage points more than in May 2025 and remains at levels last seen in the early 1960s.

ONS senior statistician Tom Davies said: “Borrowing in the first two months of the financial year was nearly £9bn higher than in the same period of 2025.

“Spending on debt interest, public services, investment and benefits all increased in May 2026 compared with last May, more than outweighing higher tax receipts.”

The OBR said: “The current overshoot against the forecast is mainly driven by central government spending, which is £4 billion above profile.

“Of this, £2.4 billion is due to higher debt interest spending largely driven by the increase in inflation due to the conflict in the Middle East. Most of the remaining areas of spending data are highly provisional this early in the year.

“Central government receipts outturn data, which tends to be less subject to future revisions, is relatively close to profile in the year to date, at just £0.9 billion lower than expected.”

Martin Beck, chief economist at the WPI Strategyconsultancy, said: “The danger for Labour is that political uncertainty starts to carry a fiscal price.

“If investors begin to price in larger deficits or stickier inflation, gilt yields could move higher again, feeding directly into mortgage rates and debt interest costs.”