The ONS said borrowing was £2.2bn higher than in February last year and much higher than the £8.8bn economists had expected it to be.
An increase in government tax receipts was outweighed by a rise in spending and the timing of government debt interest payments, it added.
However, across the 11 months of the financial year to February, government borrowing was down.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said the government had the “right economic plan” and added “we are better prepared for a more volatile world”.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said Labour was “saddling the next generation with the cost of their failure to live within our means”.
Experts have said the financial position this government is in makes it harder for the…