Bulgaria among the EU countries with the fastest-rising public debt
During the second quarter of 2025, the ratio of debt to GDP increased by 2.6 percentage points compared to the first three months of the year. This is the third-largest increase in the EU, after Finland and Latvia.
Compared to a year earlier, Bulgaria’s debt rose by 4.3 percentage points, with only Finland, Poland, and Romania reporting a larger increase.
At the same time, Bulgaria remains among the best-positioned countries in terms of indebtedness, as public debt stands at 26.3% of GDP. Only Estonia (23.2%) and Luxembourg (25.1%) have lower values.
At the opposite end of the ranking are Greece (151.2%), Italy (138.3%), and France (115.8%), which continue to be the most indebted countries in the Eurozone.
The ratio of government debt to GDP in the Eurozone rose to 88.2% at the end of the second quarter of 2025, according to Eurostat data. Across the European Union, the indicator reached 81.9%, compared with 81.5% three months earlier.
In 2024, Bulgaria’s debt amounted to 23.8% of GDP, according to final data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI). The total debt stood at 48.851 billion leva, while the budget deficit was 6.240 billion leva, equivalent to 3% of GDP.
In April this year, €4 billion was again borrowed from the external market in two tranches. The 2025 budget is planned with a 3% of GDP deficit and allows for new borrowing of up to 18.9 billion leva through domestic and international sales.
