Overview
At the end of the second quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA20) stood at 88.2%, increasing when compared with 87.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2025. In the EU, the ratio also increased from 81.5% to 81.9%.
Compared with the second quarter of 2024, the government debt to GDP ratio increased in both the euro area (from 87.7% to 88.2%) and the EU (from 81.2% to 81.9%).
At the end of the second quarter of 2025, the general government debt was made up of 84.2% debt securities in the euro area and 83.7% in the EU, 13.2% loans in the euro area and 13.8% in the EU and 2.5% currency and deposits both in the euro area and 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 second 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.
Government debt at the end of the second quarter of 2025 by Member State
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2025 were recorded in Greece (151.2%), Italy (138.3%), France (115.8%), Belgium (106.2%) and Spain (103.4%), and the lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia (23.2%), Luxembourg (25.1%), Bulgaria (26.3%), and Denmark (29.7%).
Compared with the first quarter of 2025, fifteen Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2025 and twelve registered a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Finland (+4.3 percentage points – pp), Latvia (+2.7 pp), Bulgaria (+2.6 pp), Portugal (+1.8 pp), France (+1.7 pp) and Romania (+1.4 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Lithuania (-1.4 pp), Ireland (-1.2 pp), Greece and Luxembourg (both -1.1 pp).
Compared with the second quarter of 2024, sixteen Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2025 and eleven Member States registered a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Finland (+7.8 pp), Poland (+6.1 pp), Romania (+5.8 pp), Bulgaria (+4.3 pp), France (+3.5 pp), Slovakia (+2.7 pp), Italy (+2.3 pp), and Latvia (+2.0 pp). The largest decreases were observed in Greece (-8.9 pp), Ireland (-7.2 pp), Cyprus (-6.5 pp), Denmark (-3.5 pp) and Portugal (-2.3 pp).
Tables
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, last notified in October 2025, 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 annual and quarterly GDP figures occur for Greece.
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 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 two quarters of 2025 have been labelled provisional. Country-specific metadata are published.
Geographical Information
Euro area (EA20): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
European Union (EU27): 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.
For more information
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“Statistics Explained” article on quarterly government finance statistics
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Database section on quarterly data on government debt by Member State
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Decision regarding the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)
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Further data are available in the presentation on ‘integrated government finance statistics’