While the structure of government debt varies from country to country across the euro area, the majority of governments continue to hold almost all their debt in the single currency, according to new data from Eurostat.
According to the data, in each of the 20 countries that formed the euro area at the end of 2025, more than 99.5% of government debt was issued in the common currency.
Among EU countries outside the euro area, a similar commitment to local currencies was evident, with Czechia and Sweden each holding more than 90% of their government debt in their respective national currencies.
Government debt
Across the European Union, more than 90% of government debt was denominated either in euro or, for non-euro area countries, in the national currency, Eurostat noted.
Just two EU countries have a majority of their government debt denominated in foreign currencies, with Bulgaria recording the highest share, with 75% of debt in foreign currencies, including 71% denominated in euro. Romania followed, with 53% of its debt issued in foreign currencies.
Significant shares of foreign currency debt were also noted for Hungary (32%), Poland (26%) and Denmark (24%).
‘The majority of all non-euro area EU countries’ foreign currency debt at the end of 2025 was denominated in euro,’ Eurostat commented. ‘For all EU countries, over 90% of general government gross debt was denominated either in euro, or in their national currency for non-euro area EU countries.’
Cost of debt
The statistics body also assessed the apparent cost of government debt across the EU, noting that in most member states, borrowing costs either increased slightly or remained stable between 2024 and 2025.
Romania recorded the highest apparent cost of government debt at 5.2%, followed by Poland (4.5%), Czechia (3.1%) and Italy (3.0%).
At the other end of the scale, Ireland reported the lowest apparent cost at 1.4%, followed by Luxembourg (1.5%), the Netherlands (1.7%), Germany (1.8%) as well as France, Finland and Sweden (all +1.9%).
While borrowing costs rose or remained steady in most countries, seven EU member states reported declines in the apparent cost of debt during 2025. Read more here.
