Government debt at 87.8% of GDP in euro area

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 April 2026, 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 quarterly and annual data occur at non-coinciding publications. Differences between annual and quarterly GDP figures also occur. For this release, the quarterly GDP for the EU and euro area aggregates and France have been adjusted to the annual GDP transmitted in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

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.

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, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, 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 will comment on EA21 series.

The European Union includes 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 (EU27).