Eurozone debt reaches 88.8 per cent of GDP as Italy nears Greece
EU-wide government debt rose to 82.9 per cent of GDP in the second quarter, while France’s ratio reached 119.1 per cent.
Government debt in the eurozone’s 21 countries amounted to 88.8 per cent of GDP in the April–June quarter, compared with 87.3 per cent a year earlier, Eurostat said. The total owed was about €14.4 trillion.
Greece still had the EU’s highest debt ratio, at 140.8 per cent, but Italy followed closely at 139.9 per cent. Over a year, Greece’s ratio dropped by 11.2 percentage points. Italy’s increased by 1.3 percentage points during the second quarter alone.
France ranked third at 119.1 per cent, an annual increase of 3.7 percentage points. Belgium’s ratio stood at 110.2 per cent and Spain’s at 101.4 per cent. Estonia recorded the lowest level, 26.1 per cent, while Poland had the largest annual increase, at 6.7 percentage points.
Across the EU, the second-quarter debt ratio reached 82.9 per cent, against 81.4 per cent a year before. Seasonally adjusted budget deficits also widened: the eurozone figure increased from 3.2 per cent in the first quarter to 3.3 per cent, while the EU figure moved from 3.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Separate annual figures put EU debt at 81.5 per cent of GDP in 2025, compared with 80.3 per cent in 2024. The deficit was unchanged at 3.1 per cent. EU rules set ceilings of 60 per cent for debt and 3 per cent for annual deficits.
The annual eurozone data cover the 20 countries using the currency in 2025, before Bulgaria joined on 1 January 2026. Eurostat raised concerns about the quality of Bulgaria’s 2025 figures concerning the recording of road infrastructure agency spending.
