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Government debt at 88.9% of GDP in euro area

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Overview

At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area(EA21) stood at 88.9%, an increase compared with 87.7% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. In the EU, the ratio also increased from 81.8% to 82.9%.

Compared with the first quarter of 2025, the government debt to GDP ratio increased in both the euro area(from 87.2% to 88.9%) and the EU(from 81.4% to 82.9%).

At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the general governmentdebt was made up of 84.3% debt securities in the euro area and 83.6% in the EU, 13.2% loans in the euro area and 13.9% in the EU and 2.5% currency and deposits in both the euro area and 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 first quarter of 2026 stood at 1.3% in the euro areaand at 1.1% in the EU.

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

Euro area and EU general government gross debt

Government debt at the end of the first quarter of 2026 by Member State

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2026 were recorded in Greece(143.5%), Italy(138.9%), France(117.6%), Belgium(109.1%) and Spain(101.6%), and the lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia(25.2%), Denmark (26.8%), Bulgaria(28.5%) and Luxembourg(29.2%).

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, seventeen Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2026, eight registered a decrease, and the ratio remained stable in Latvia and Czechia. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Hungary (+3.1 percentage points – pp), Lithuania (+2.9 pp), Luxembourg (+2.8 pp), Ireland (+2.2 pp), Croatia (+2.1 pp), Austria (+2.0 pp), France and Poland(both +1.9 pp) and Italy (+1.8 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Greece(-2.6 pp), Bulgaria (-1.3 pp), the Netherlands(-1.0 pp) and Slovenia(-0.9 pp).

Compared with the first quarter of 2025, nineteen Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2026 and eight Member States registered a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Finland(+5.5 pp), Bulgaria(+4.8 pp), Poland(+4.5 pp), Romania(+4.3 pp), France (+4.0 pp), Luxembourg and Belgium(both +3.1 pp). The largest decreases were observed in Greece(-9.4 pp), Cyprus(-7.4 pp), Slovenia(-4.8 pp), Portugal(-3.9 pp), Denmark(-2.4 pp) and Spain (-1.7 pp).

Tables

General government gross debt by Member State

Difference in pp of GDP 2026Q1pcompared with:

General government gross debt by Member State

Components of general government gross debt, in % of GDP

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 October 2026, are the subject of a thorough verification by Eurostat.

The general government gross debtis 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 ratiois 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 quarter of 2026 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, Latrtugal, 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 comment on EA21 series.

The European Union includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latstria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden (EU27)

For more information

E-mail: eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

E-mail: estat-gov-debt@ec.europa.eu

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