site.btaBulgaria’s Government Debt-to-GDP Ratio Third Lowest in EU in Q2 2025

In the second quarter of 2025, Bulgaria’s government debt-to-GDP ratio was 26.3%, the third lowest in the EU, according to the latest data published by Eurostat on Tuesday.

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP 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%). The lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia (23.2%), Luxembourg (25.1%), Bulgaria (26.3%), and Denmark (29.7%).

At the end of the second quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt-to-GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 88.2%, increasing when compared with 87.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2025. In the EU, the ratio also increased from 81.5% to 81.9%.

Compared with the second quarter of 2024, the government debt-to-GDP ratio increased in both the euro area (from 87.7% to 88.2%) and the EU (from 81.2% to 81.9%).

At the end of the second quarter of 2025, the general government debt was made up 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 both in the euro area and in 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 second quarter of 2025 stood at 1.4% in the euro area and at 1.2% in the EU.

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

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