Euro area governments added debt equivalent to 4.5% of quarterly GDP in the third quarter of 2025, while running a deficit of 2.9% of quarterly GDP.
The deficit (also called net borrowing) accounted for the largest part of the quarter’s increase in gross government debt, Eurostat said in a release on Thursday.
It added that governments also took on financial assets worth 0.5% of GDP during the quarter, which was financed and contributed to the rise in debt.
At the same time, liabilities not counted in the official “gross debt” measure — mainly other accounts payable — were repaid by the equivalent of 1.0% of GDP.
Other factors made up the remaining difference between the deficit and the change in debt, including revaluations of debt, adjustments between recorded transactions and changes in the stock of debt, and statistical discrepancies totalling 0.1% of quarterly GDP.
How the figures are put together
The figures come from Eurostat’s quarterly government finance statistics, which track governments’ financial transactions and balance sheets — including what they borrow, what they owe, and the financial assets they buy or sell.
The update also noted that in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in debt were mainly driven by large deficits and acquisitions of financial assets.
