At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA20) stood at 88.0%, compared with 87.4% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. In the European Union as a whole, the ratio also increased from 81.0% to 81.8%. Data were released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Compared with the first quarter of 2024, i.e. a year ago, the government debt to GDP ratio increased in both the EU as a whole (from 81.2% to 81.8%) and in the euro area (from 87.8% to 88.0%).

At the end of the first 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.

In all EU countries, governments spend most money on social transfers and different types of compensations. These expenditures combined form typically 65-75% of all money spent.

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 2025 stood at 1.4% in the euro area and at 1.2% in the EU.

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From Greece down to Bulgaria

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2025 were recorded in Greece (152.5%), Italy (137.9%), France (114.1%), Belgium (106.8%), and Spain (103.5%). The lowest figures were recorded in Bulgaria (23.9%), Estonia (24.1%), Luxembourg (26.1%),and Denmark (29.9%).

Source: Eurostat

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, sixteen member states registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2025. Ten countries registered a decrease, and the ratio remained stable in Czechia. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Austria and Slovakia (both +3.5 percentage points).

In absolute figures (not related to GDP), however, the most indebted EU countries remain France, Germany, and Italy.