# Euro area government debt rises to 88.8% of GDP in second quarter > The euro area’s general government gross debt reached 88.8% of GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2026, up from 88.4% in the first quarter, Eurostat reported on 21 October. The EU ratio also rose, from 82.5% to 82.9%. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Economy - Published: 2026-10-21T11:11:48+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-21T11:11:48+00:00 - Event / data period: 2026-06 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026.md) Compared with the same quarter of 2025, the ratio increased from 87.3% to 88.8% in the euro area and from 81.4% to 82.9% in the EU. Debt securities made up 84.5% of euro area debt and 83.9% of EU debt in the second quarter. Among member states, the highest debt ratios were in Greece at 140.8%, Italy at 139.9% and France at 119.1%. The quarterly figures are provisional and follow the Maastricht debt definition, with debt measured against GDP over the latest four quarters. ## Data ### Government debt EU and euro area, second quarter 2026; share of GDP Methodology: Ratios are reported by Eurostat; quarterly figures are provisional. | Area and period | Percent of GDP | |---|---| | Euro area, 2026 Q2 | 88.8 | | EU, 2026 Q2 | 82.9 | | Euro area, 2025 Q2 | 87.3 | | EU, 2025 Q2 | 81.4 | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026/data/release-data?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/euro-area-government-debt-rises-to-88-8-percent-gdp-q2-2026/data/release-data?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [Eurostat]() (Source checked: 2026-10-21; Published: 2026-10-21) --- Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)