Eurostat: Greece is the champion in debt reduction

According to Eurostat data, compared to the second quarter of 2024, the public debt-to-GDP ratio increased both in the euro area (from 87.7% to 88.2%) and in the EU (from 81.2% to 81.9%).

At the end of the second quarter of 2025, general government debt consisted 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 in both the euro area and the EU .

Due to the participation of EU Member State governments in lending to some Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental borrowing (IGB) are also published. IGB as a percentage of GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2025 was 1.4% in the euro area and 1.2% in the EU .

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

Public debt at the end of the second quarter of 2025 by Member State
The highest public debt-to-GDP ratios 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%), while the lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia (23.2%), Luxembourg (25.1%), Bulgaria (26.3%) and Denmark (29.7%).

Compared to the first quarter of 2025, fifteen Member States recorded an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2025 and twelve recorded a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Finland (+4.3 percentage points – percentage points), Latvia (+2.7 percentage points), Bulgaria (+2.6 percentage points), Portugal (+1.8 percentage points), France (+1.7 percentage points) and Romania (+1.4 percentage points). The largest decreases were recorded in Lithuania (-1.4 percentage points), Ireland (-1.2 percentage points), Greece and Luxembourg (both -1.1 percentage points).

Greece is the champion
Compared to the second quarter of 2024, sixteen Member States recorded an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2025 and eleven Member States recorded a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Finland (+7.8 percentage points), Poland (+6.1 percentage points), Romania (+5.8 percentage points), Bulgaria (+4.3 percentage points), France (+3.5 percentage points), Slovakia (+2.7 percentage points), Italy (+2.3 percentage points) and Latvia (+2.0 percentage points). The largest decreases were observed in Greece (-8.9 percentage points), Ireland (-7.2 percentage points), Cyprus (-6.5 percentage points), Denmark (-3.5 percentage points) and Portugal (-2.3 percentage points).