Spain's Public Debt Reaches Record Highs in Early 2025
Public debt amounted to €1.668 trillion, representing 103.5% of GDP in the first quarter of 2025.
Spain's public debt has reached a historic high of €1.668 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 103.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to data released by the Bank of Spain.
This figure marks an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the end of 2024, when the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 101.8%.
However, it is 2.8 percentage points lower than the same period in the previous year, when the ratio was recorded at 106.3%.
The Spanish government has set expectations to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 101.7% by the end of 2025. In the long term, officials project a gradual decline, estimating a debt ratio of 98.4% in 2027, 90.6% in 2031, and 76.8% by 2041.
Despite outlining a downward trajectory for public debt in future years, specific timelines for reducing the ratio below what is deemed 'prudent' levels of 60%, as recommended by European Union guidelines, have not been detailed.
In absolute terms, Spain's public debt increased by €52.786 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 3.3%.
Compared to the final quarter of 2024, the debt rose by €46.931 billion, equating to a 2.9% increase.
The surge in public debt from the previous year can be attributed to an increase in borrowing by the central administration, autonomous communities, and social security agencies.
Conversely, local government debt has decreased over the past year.
Specifically, the central administration's debt reached €1.533 trillion in March 2025, representing 95.1% of GDP, down from 97.2% in the first quarter of 2024, but up from 93.6% in the last quarter of that year.
The year-on-year growth of this sector's debt was recorded at 3.9% for the first quarter of 2025.
The social security administrations reported a debt level of €126 billion, equivalent to 7.8% of GDP, with an annual growth of 8.6%.
This increase is linked to state loans provided to the General Treasury of Social Security to finance a significant portion of its budgetary imbalance.
These loans are classified as financial transactions between subsectors and do not impact the overall public administrations' debt.
Regarding territorial administrations, the debt of the autonomous communities (CCAA) grew to €338 billion in March 2025, representing 21% of GDP, with a year-on-year increase of 2.8%.
Local corporations (CCLL) reported a debt of €23 billion at the same time, constituting 1.4% of GDP, which is 1.3% less than the debt recorded a year earlier.
This figure marks an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the end of 2024, when the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 101.8%.
However, it is 2.8 percentage points lower than the same period in the previous year, when the ratio was recorded at 106.3%.
The Spanish government has set expectations to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 101.7% by the end of 2025. In the long term, officials project a gradual decline, estimating a debt ratio of 98.4% in 2027, 90.6% in 2031, and 76.8% by 2041.
Despite outlining a downward trajectory for public debt in future years, specific timelines for reducing the ratio below what is deemed 'prudent' levels of 60%, as recommended by European Union guidelines, have not been detailed.
In absolute terms, Spain's public debt increased by €52.786 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 3.3%.
Compared to the final quarter of 2024, the debt rose by €46.931 billion, equating to a 2.9% increase.
The surge in public debt from the previous year can be attributed to an increase in borrowing by the central administration, autonomous communities, and social security agencies.
Conversely, local government debt has decreased over the past year.
Specifically, the central administration's debt reached €1.533 trillion in March 2025, representing 95.1% of GDP, down from 97.2% in the first quarter of 2024, but up from 93.6% in the last quarter of that year.
The year-on-year growth of this sector's debt was recorded at 3.9% for the first quarter of 2025.
The social security administrations reported a debt level of €126 billion, equivalent to 7.8% of GDP, with an annual growth of 8.6%.
This increase is linked to state loans provided to the General Treasury of Social Security to finance a significant portion of its budgetary imbalance.
These loans are classified as financial transactions between subsectors and do not impact the overall public administrations' debt.
Regarding territorial administrations, the debt of the autonomous communities (CCAA) grew to €338 billion in March 2025, representing 21% of GDP, with a year-on-year increase of 2.8%.
Local corporations (CCLL) reported a debt of €23 billion at the same time, constituting 1.4% of GDP, which is 1.3% less than the debt recorded a year earlier.
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Translated by AI
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