Government debt at 88.5% of GDP in euro area

82.1% of GDP in EU

Overview

At the end of the third quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA20) stood at 88.5%, an increase compared with 88.2% at the end of the second quarter of 2025. In the EU, the ratio also increased from 81.9% to 82.1%.

Compared with the third quarter of 2024, the government debt to GDP ratio increased in both the euro area (from 87.7% to 88.5%) and the EU (from 81.3% to 82.1%).

At the end of the third quarter of 2025, the general government debt was made up of 84.2% debt securities in the euro area and 83.6% in the EU, 13.3% loans in the euro area and 13.9% in the EU and 2.6% currency and deposits in the euro area and 2.5% in the EU.

Due to the involvement of EU Member States' governments in lending to certain Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published. The IGL as percentage of GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2025 stood at 1.4% in the euro area and at 1.2% in the EU.

These data are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Euro area and EU general government gross debt
		2024Q3	2025Q2^p	2025Q3^p
Euro area 20
General government gross debt	(million euro)	13 228 782	13 676 742	13 854 637
General government gross debt	(% of GDP)	87.7	88.2	88.5
Of which: Currency and deposits	(million euro)	337 593	348 052	353 512
Of which: Currency and deposits	(% of total debt)	2.6	2.5	2.6
Debt securities	(million euro)	11 119 788	11 518 784	11 661 087
Debt securities	(% of total debt)	84.1	84.2	84.2
Loans	(million euro)	1 771 402	1 809 906	1 840 037
Loans	(% of total debt)	13.4	13.2	13.3
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(million euro)	224 314	216 518	219 845
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(% of GDP)	1.5	1.4	1.4
Euro area 21
General government gross debt	(million euro)	13 253 694	13 705 122	13 886 456
General government gross debt	(% of GDP)	87.3	87.7	88.1
Of which: Currency and deposits	(million euro)	337 593	348 052	353 512
Of which: Currency and deposits	(% of total debt)	2.5	2.5	2.5
Debt securities	(million euro)	11 141 118	11 543 685	11 689 229
Debt securities	(% of total debt)	84.1	84.2	84.2
Loans	(million euro)	1 774 983	1 813 384	1 843 714
Loans	(% of total debt)	13.4	13.2	13.3
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(million euro)	224 314	216 518	219 845
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(% of GDP)	1.5	1.4	1.4
EU
General government gross debt	(million euro)	14 476 738	15 047 553	15 253 172
General government gross debt	(% of GDP)	81.3	81.9	82.1
Of which: Currency and deposits	(million euro)	364 338	374 924	383 938
Of which: Currency and deposits	(% of total debt)	2.5	2.5	2.5
Debt securities	(million euro)	12 101 484	12 591 774	12 752 185
Debt securities	(% of total debt)	83.6	83.7	83.6
Loans	(million euro)	2 010 917	2 080 854	2 117 049
Loans	(% of total debt)	13.9	13.8	13.9
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(million euro)	224 314	216 518	219 845
Memo: Intergovernmental lending	(% of GDP)	1.3	1.2	1.2
^p : provisional data Rounding differences may occur

Government debt at the end of the third quarter of 2025 by Member State

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2025 were recorded in Greece (149.7%), Italy (137.8%), France (117.7%), Belgium (107.1%) and Spain (103.2%), and the lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia (22.9%), Luxembourg (27.9%), Bulgaria (28.4%), and Denmark (29.7%).

General government gross debt to GDP ratio, 2025Q3

Compared with the second quarter of 2025, eleven Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2025 and sixteen registered a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Luxembourg (+2.6 percentage points – pp), Bulgaria (+2.1 pp), France (+1.8 pp), Lithuania and Romania (both +1.6 pp), and Austria (+1.5 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Latvia (-2.9 pp), Greece (-2.2 pp), Slovenia and Finland (both -1.7 pp).

Changes in general government gross debt to GDP ratio, 2025Q3 compared to 2025Q2

Compared with the third quarter of 2024, sixteen Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2025 and eleven Member States registered a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Romania (+5.5 pp), Poland (+5.0 pp), Finland (+4.7 pp), Bulgaria (+4.1 pp) and France (+4.0 pp). The largest decreases were observed in Greece (-8.9 pp), Ireland (-7.1 pp), Cyprus (-6.1 pp), Denmark (-3.1 pp) and Latvia (-2.3 pp).

Changes in general government gross debt to GDP ratio, 2025Q3 compared to 2024Q3

Tables

General government gross debt by Member State
General government gross debt
		Millions of national currency			% of GDP			Difference in pp of GDP 2025Q3 ^p compared with:
		2024Q3	2025Q2 ^p	2025Q3 ^p	2024Q3	2025Q2 ^p	2025Q3 ^p	2024Q3	2025Q2 ^p
Euro area 20	EUR	13 228 782	13 676 742	13 854 637	87.7	88.2	88.5	0.8	0.3
Euro area 21	EUR	13 253 694	13 705 122	13 886 456	87.3	87.7	88.1	0.8	0.3
EU	EUR	14 476 738	15 047 553	15 253 172	81.3	81.9	82.1	0.9	0.3
Belgium	EUR	644 385	670 703	681 157	104.8	106.2	107.1	2.3	0.8
Bulgaria	EUR*	24 918	28 386	31 825	24.3	26.3	28.4	4.1	2.1
Czechia	CZK	3 449 070	3 627 212	3 623 901	43.4	43.8	43.1	-0.3	-0.7
Denmark**	DKK	932 969	888 596	900 757	32.7	29.6	29.7	-3.1	0.1
Germany	EUR	2 671 637	2 733 365	2 787 631	62.0	62.3	63.0	1.0	0.7
Estonia	EUR	9 386	9 461	9 410	23.8	23.2	22.9	-1.0	-0.3
Ireland	EUR	215 943	207 243	208 960	40.0	33.4	32.8	-7.1	-0.5
Greece	EUR	370 820	368 609	367 852	158.6	151.9	149.7	-8.9	-2.2
Spain	EUR	1 635 731	1 690 922	1 709 330	104.2	103.5	103.2	-1.1	-0.3
France	EUR	3 301 444	3 416 302	3 482 180	113.7	115.9	117.7	4.0	1.8
Croatia	EUR	49 968	50 932	51 838	59.2	57.5	57.2	-1.9	-0.3
Italy	EUR	2 962 913	3 071 278	3 080 915	135.6	138.3	137.8	2.2	-0.5
Cyprus	EUR	22 886	21 774	21 748	66.7	61.4	60.6	-6.1	-0.7
Latvia	EUR	18 853	19 776	18 965	47.4	48.0	45.2	-2.3	-2.9
Lithuania	EUR	29 521	31 815	33 635	38.0	39.1	40.7	2.6	1.6
Luxembourg	EUR	21 790	21 870	24 451	25.6	25.2	27.9	2.2	2.6
Hungary	HUF	60 605 593	63 986 465	64 146 655	76.1	76.2	75.2	-0.8	-0.9
Malta	EUR	10 165	11 110	11 215	44.8	46.8	46.5	1.7	-0.2
Netherlands	EUR	469 678	491 700	493 628	42.6	42.7	42.4	-0.3	-0.4
Austria	EUR	398 538	412 280	423 892	81.6	82.2	83.7	2.1	1.5
Poland	PLN	1 897 487	2 186 171	2 221 829	53.2	58.1	58.1	5.0	0.1
Portugal	EUR	272 323	287 133	294 420	95.9	96.7	97.6	1.7	0.9
Romania	RON	916 404	1 039 857	1 096 295	53.3	57.3	58.9	5.5	1.6
Slovenia	EUR	44 245	47 494	46 930	66.3	69.3	67.6	1.3	-1.7
Slovakia	EUR	77 425	83 484	83 916	60.1	62.9	62.3	2.2	-0.6
Finland	EUR	225 432	245 999	242 401	82.2	88.5	86.8	4.7	-1.7
Sweden	SEK	2 040 847	2 191 695	2 174 022	32.3	33.9	33.3	1.0	-0.6
Norway	NOK	2 191 307	2 303 056	2 315 139	40.9	42.0	42.0	1.1	0.0
^p : provisional data * euro-fixed for periods up to the fourth quarter of 2025, i.e. BGN divided by the irrevocable exchange rate ** See country metadata notes Rounding differences may occur Source dataset: gov_10q_ggdebt

General government gross debt by Member State
Components of general government gross debt, in % of GDP				IGL (assets)
	Currency and deposits	Debt Securities	Loans	% of GDP
	2025Q3^p	2025Q3^p	2025Q3^p	2025Q3^p
Euro area 20	2.3	74.5	11.8	1.4
Euro area 21	2.2	74.1	11.7	1.4
EU	2.1	68.7	11.4	1.2
Belgium	0.4	92.1	14.6	1.3
Bulgaria	-	25.1	3.3	0.0
Czechia	0.4	39.1	3.6	0.0
Denmark*	0.6	27.0	2.1	0.0
Germany	0.4	50.2	12.4	1.4
Estonia	0.3	13.1	9.5	1.2
Ireland	4.0	22.1	6.8	0.0
Greece	3.1	40.0	106.7	0.0
Spain	0.3	91.6	11.2	1.7
France	1.5	105.6	10.6	1.6
Croatia	0.1	42.2	15.0	0.0
Italy	8.6	115.2	14.0	1.9
Cyprus	0.5	35.5	24.7	0.9
Latvia	1.4	40.0	3.7	0.0
Lithuania	0.2	33.8	6.7	0.0
Luxembourg	0.4	23.7	3.8	0.7
Hungary	0.8	66.1	8.3	0.0
Malta	1.7	40.4	4.5	0.9
Netherlands	0.2	35.8	6.3	1.1
Austria	0.4	74.3	9.0	1.7
Poland	0.3	43.1	14.8	0.0
Portugal	16.7	57.8	23.2	0.2
Romania	1.2	48.0	9.6	0.0
Slovenia	0.3	56.9	10.4	1.6
Slovakia	0.1	55.8	6.4	1.6
Finland	0.4	65.6	20.9	1.5
Sweden	3.0	19.0	11.3	0.0
Norway	-	16.1	26.0	-
^p : provisional data - Not applicable * See country metadata notes Rounding differences may occur Source datas et: gov_10q_ggdebt

Notes for users

Methods and definitions

Quarterly data on government debt are collected from the Member States according to European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), see Annex B, ESA 2010 transmission programme, and refer to the Maastricht debt definition, used in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). Annual EDP data, next to be notified in April 2026, are the subject of a thorough verification by Eurostat.

The general government gross debt is defined as the consolidated gross debt of the whole general government sector outstanding at the end of the quarter (at face value). General government debt consists of liabilities of general government in the following financial instruments: currency and deposits (AF.2), debt securities (AF.3) and loans (AF.4), as defined in ESA 2010.

The debt to GDP ratio is calculated for each quarter using the sum of quarterly GDP for the four last quarters. Quarterly data on GDP are the most recent ones transmitted by the EU Member States. While quarterly debt figures are consistent with annual debt figures at coinciding publications, differences between quarterly and annual data occur at non-coinciding publications. Differences between annual and quarterly GDP figures also occur.

For the purpose of proper consolidation of general government debt and to provide users with information, Eurostat publishes data on government loans (IGL) to other EU governments. The concepts and definitions are based on ESA 2010 and on the rules relating to the statistics for the EDP. The data covered is the stock of loans and partly deposits related to claims on other EU Member States, including loans made through the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The valuation basis is the stock of loans at face value outstanding at end of each quarter. From the first quarter of 2011 onwards, the intergovernmental lending figures relate mainly to lending to Greece, Ireland and Portugal and include loans made by the EFSF.

For stock data such as general government debt, end of period exchange rates are used in the compilation of the EU aggregates. For flow data, such as GDP, average exchange rates are used. The EU aggregates, denominated in euro, can fluctuate as a result of exchange rate movements between the euro and other EU currencies.

All quarterly government finance statistics data for the first three quarters of 2025 have been labelled provisional. Country-specific metadata are published.

Geographical Information

Up to 31 December 2025, the euro area included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland (EA20). From 1 January 2026, the euro area also includes Bulgaria (EA21).

The aggregate data series commented on in this Euro indicator release refer to the official composition of the euro area in the most recent quarter for which data are available. Thus, Euro indicator releases with data up to the fourth quarter of 2025 comment on EA20 series, while releases with data for the first quarter of 2026 onwards will comment on EA21 series.

The European Union includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden (EU27).