Greece leads EU in public debt with 153.6% of GDP, Eurostat says

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, Greece recorded the highest public debt level among all European Union (EU) member states, with its debt standing at 153.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the figures released by Eurostat. This makes Greece the EU’s most indebted country in terms of the ratio of public debt to GDP.

Italy ranked second, maintaining a public debt level of 135.3% of GDP, which continues to place it among the top tier of indebted EU countries, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

France followed with a debt level of 113%, while Belgium’s public debt stood at 104.7%. Spain also remained above the 100% threshold, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 101.8%.

By contrast, the countries with the lowest levels of public debt in the EU included Estonia, which reported a debt of just 23.6% of GDP. Close behind were Bulgaria at 24.1%, Luxembourg at 26.3%, Denmark at 31.1%, and Sweden at 33.5%. These figures highlight a stark disparity in fiscal balance among EU member states.

In terms of regional averages, the eurozone — the bloc of EU countries that use the euro — had a combined public debt-to-GDP ratio of 87.4% at the end of Q4 2024. This figure represents a modest decline from the third quarter, when the average was 88.1%. For the entire European Union, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 81%, indicating a generally improving debt outlook on a union-wide scale.

In a related note, Eurostat also provided comparative data for Russia, although it is not an EU member. Russia’s national debt rose by 13.5% during 2024, and by January 1, 2025, the country’s public debt stood at 14.5% of its GDP.

To clarify the context, GDP (gross domestic product) represents the total market value of all goods and services produced within a country over the course of a year. Public debt, on the other hand, is the total amount of money a government owes to creditors, including other countries, international institutions, commercial banks, and bondholders.

The relationship between public debt and GDP is critical for assessing a country’s fiscal health. A debt level of 50% of GDP means that the country owes half the value of what it produces annually. The higher the percentage, the greater the burden on the economy, as more government revenue may need to be allocated toward servicing debt instead of funding public services and investment.

By Tamilla Hasanova