Cyprus Achieves EU's Second-Largest Government Debt Reduction
Cyprus Public Debt Rises in EU Rankings With 7.4% Annual Drop
Cyprus Achieves Cyprus recorded the EU's second-largest annual public debt drop in Q1 2026, falling to 54.6% of GDP. Data from Eurostat shows significant progress against broader European trends.EU's Second-Largest Government Debt Reduction
Cyprus Gross Government Debt Overview
Cyprus’ gross government debt stood at 54.6% of GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2026, according to data published on Tuesday by Eurostat.
According to Eurostat, Cyprus’ government debt amounted to €20.089 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared with €20.078 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 and €21.790 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
Quarterly and Annual Debt Declines
As a percentage of GDP, Cyprus’ government debt decreased by 0.5 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, when it stood at 55.0%.
On an annual basis, compared with the first quarter of 2025, the decrease in Cyprus was 7.4 percentage points, as government debt at that time corresponded to 61.9% of GDP.
EU Member State Comparisons
Cyprus recorded the second-largest annual reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio among Member States, after Greece, where the decrease was 9.4 percentage points.
Components of Cypriot Government Debt
Based on Eurostat data on the components of gross government debt, in Cyprus debt securities corresponded to 31.6% of GDP, loans to 22.5% and currency and deposits to 0.5%.
Intergovernmental lending, as an asset, stood at 0.8% of GDP in Cyprus.
Government Debt Trends Across the Euro Area and EU
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the gross government debt-to-GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 88.9%, up from 87.7% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. In the EU, the ratio also increased, from 81.8% to 82.9%.
Compared with the first quarter of 2025, the government debt-to-GDP ratio increased in the euro area from 87.2% to 88.9% and in the EU from 81.4% to 82.9%.
Debt Composition in the Euro Area and EU
According to Eurostat, at the end of the first quarter of 2026, government debt was made up of 84.3% debt securities in the euro area and 83.6% in the EU.
