UK April Borrowing Hits £20.2bn, Highest Since Covid Pandemic

Government borrowing came in £1.1 billion above official forecasts last month as fuel costs pushed retail sales down 0.3 percent and Chancellor Rachel Reeves absorbed the hit ahead of a scheduled spending review.

UK public sector net borrowing reached £20.2 billion in April 2025, the highest April figure since 2021.
The Office for National Statistics reported borrowing came in £1.1 billion above the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.
Retail sales volumes fell 0.3 percent in April, with fuel sales declining as pump prices dropped — but the broader spending picture remained soft.
Higher spending on public services and debt interest payments were cited as primary drivers of the borrowing overshoot.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a spending review on June 11 with the year's first borrowing number already running wide of target.

UK government borrowing hit £20.2 billion in April 2025, the Office for National Statistics confirmed Wednesday — the highest April figure recorded since the Covid emergency spending of 2021 and £1.1 billion above what the Office for Budget Responsibility had projected for the month.

Debt interest payments and increased public service expenditure drove the overshoot. The OBR had pencilled in £19.1 billion. The actual figure cleared that by enough to attract notice at the Treasury.

Retail sales volumes fell 0.3 percent over the same month. The ONS attributed part of that to a 1.4 percent drop in fuel sales as pump prices declined — which is the kind of detail that sounds like good news until the broader sales picture is consulted.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the inherited fiscal position as “non-negotiable” in a statement that did not address the April number directly. Her spending review lands June 11.

The April 2021 borrowing figure it just beat was itself a pandemic record. Nobody in the statement mentioned that.