Greece’s general government gross debt was about 154% of GDP in 2024, depending on the reporting source and release. The ratio remains exceptionally high, but it was far below the 207% of GDP recorded in 2020. The statistics below separate general government debt from gross state debt, identify the relevant measurement dates, and distinguish reported figures from estimates and forecasts.
Contents
- Debt ratio and recent movement
- Debt stocks at the end of 2024
- Cash reserves and short-term instruments
- Borrowing activity and financing costs
- 2024 bond issues and reopenings
- Fiscal outlook and debt projections
Debt ratio and recent movement
The debt-to-GDP ratio measures general government gross debt against the size of the Greek economy. It is different from a euro-denominated debt stock, because the ratio is affected by both debt and GDP. The following figures come from successive Eurostat government debt releases and the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) report.
| Measurement point | General government gross debt | Source or status |
|---|---|---|
| End-2023 | 161.9% of GDP | Eurostat, 22 April 2024 release |
| Q1 2024 | 159.8% of GDP | Eurostat, 22 July 2024 release |
| Q2 2024 | 163.6% of GDP | Eurostat, 22 October 2024 release |
| Q3 2024 | 158.2% of GDP | Eurostat, 22 January 2025 release |
| 2024 | 153.6% of GDP | PDMA, Sovereign Borrowing Outlook 2024 |
| 2024 | 154% of GDP | PDMA, 2024 annual bulletin |
The quarterly sequence shows why a single observation should not be read as a continuous monthly trend. The ratio was 161.9% at the end of 2023, 159.8% in the first quarter of 2024, 163.6% in the second quarter, and 158.2% in the third quarter. The PDMA’s full-year 2024 figures place the year-end ratio at 153.6% or 154%, depending on the stated presentation.
The PDMA reported that Greece’s debt ratio fell by about 53 percentage points of GDP between 2020 and 2024. Its 2020 reference figure was 207% of GDP. This is a change in the ratio, not a claim that the euro value of debt fell by the same percentage-point amount.
Debt stocks at the end of 2024
At end-2024, the PDMA reported gross state debt of EUR 403.861 billion. The reported composition separates debt securities from loans and also distinguishes short-term from long-term instruments.
| End-2024 debt measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross state debt | EUR 403.861 billion |
| Debt securities stock | EUR 105.286 billion |
| Treasury bills stock | EUR 8.416 billion |
| Long-term debt securities stock | EUR 96.870 billion |
| Loan stock | EUR 298.575 billion |
| Short-term loan stock | EUR 56.945 billion |
| Long-term loan stock | EUR 241.630 billion |
The loan stock was therefore the larger reported component of gross state debt, at EUR 298.575 billion, while debt securities totaled EUR 105.286 billion. Within securities, long-term debt securities amounted to EUR 96.870 billion and treasury bills to EUR 8.416 billion. Within loans, EUR 241.630 billion was classified as long term and EUR 56.945 billion as short term.
The PDMA also reported EUR 218.823 billion of debt held vis-a-vis the EFSF, ESM and IMF. Other nonresident debt was EUR 22.668 billion. These are exposure categories within the reported debt structure and should not be added to one another without accounting for the way the PDMA defines overlapping or separate classifications.
For general government rather than gross state debt, the PDMA reported a debt stock of EUR 364.885 billion at end-2024. Its general government net debt stock was an end-2024 estimate of EUR 365,494 million. Because the gross state and general government measures use different statistical boundaries, the figures are not interchangeable.
Cash reserves and short-term instruments
The PDMA reported Greece’s general government cash reserves at EUR 36.281 billion at end-2024. The same series recorded EUR 39.256 billion on 30 September 2024 and EUR 33.624 billion at end-2023. These observations describe cash reserves at specific dates, so they should not be treated as an annual average.
For central administration, cash was EUR 18,231 million at end-2024, compared with EUR 21,507 million at end-2023. The PDMA reported a year-over-year fall of EUR 3,276 million. SDR holdings added EUR 1,220 million to total central administration cash at 31 December 2024, bringing the total including SDR holdings to EUR 19,451 million.
Short-term financing changed during the year. Greece’s treasury bill stock was EUR 8,416 million at end-2024, down EUR 3,574 million during 2024. The repo stock reached EUR 56,944 million at end-2024, an increase of EUR 2,405 million. The PDMA also reported a EUR 1,169 million reduction in short-term borrowings in 2024.
These cash and instrument figures explain why debt analysis benefits from several measures. A debt ratio describes debt relative to GDP; a debt stock gives a euro amount; cash reserves describe liquid assets; and treasury bills and repos describe particular financing instruments. None of these measures alone represents the entire fiscal position.
Borrowing activity and financing costs
Greece raised EUR 9.502 billion through bond issues in 2024. Syndicated transactions supplied EUR 6.907 billion of that amount, while auction reissues supplied EUR 2.595 billion. The PDMA reported a weighted average maturity of 16.54 years for new medium-term borrowing in 2024.
The weighted average cost of total new borrowing, excluding repos, was 3.43% in 2024. This cost measure covers the reported new borrowing total and excludes repos; it is not the same as the yield on every individual bond.
The state budget’s gross financing needs were EUR 15,036 million in 2024. Medium- and long-term borrowing covered EUR 11,917 million of those needs in nominal terms and generated EUR 11,868 million of cash inflow. Greece earned EUR 1,061 million from financial transactions, while financing operations consumed EUR 3,276 million of cash.
In December 2024, Greece prepaid EUR 7.935 billion of GLF loans. The prepayment covered debt maturities in 2026, 2027 and 2028. The PDMA also reported that Greece’s 10-year bond spread against Germany closed 2024 at 89 basis points. A spread is a market-price measure relative to the German benchmark, not a direct measure of the total debt stock.
2024 bond issues and reopenings
The PDMA recorded the following individual 2024 transactions. Dates are issue or reopening dates, amounts are nominal transaction amounts, and yields are the reported yields for those transactions.
| Date | Maturity | Amount | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 January 2024 | 4 years | EUR 250 million | 2.720% |
| 6 February 2024 | 10 years | EUR 4 billion | 3.478% |
| 21 February 2024 | 4 years | EUR 200 million | 2.854% |
| 21 February 2024 | 9 years | EUR 200 million | 3.320% |
| 27 March 2024 | 4 years | EUR 250 million | 2.850% |
| 24 April 2024 | 11 years | EUR 200 million | 3.613% |
| 2 May 2024 | 30 years | EUR 3 billion | 4.241% |
| 29 May 2024 | 10 years | EUR 250 million | 3.506% |
| 29 May 2024 | 10 years | EUR 250 million | 3.110% |
| 26 June 2024 | 10 years | EUR 200 million | 3.556% |
| 24 July 2024 | 5 years | EUR 250 million | 2.807% |
| 23 October 2024 | 5 years | EUR 250 million | 2.381% |
| 27 November 2024 | 10 years | EUR 250 million | 3.160% |
The two largest listed issues were the EUR 4 billion 10-year bond on 6 February at a 3.478% yield and the EUR 3 billion 30-year bond on 2 May at a 4.241% yield. The remaining entries were reopenings, including two separately reported 10-year transactions on 29 May with yields of 3.506% and 3.110%.
Fiscal outlook and debt projections
The European Commission’s 2024 Country Report - Greece estimated general government gross debt at 153.9% of GDP in 2024 and projected 149.3% in 2025. These are Commission figures and should be kept distinct from the PDMA’s 153.6% and 154% 2024 presentations.
The Commission projected a general government balance of -1.6% of GDP in 2024 and -1.2% in 2025. It projected structural budget balances of -1.7% and -1.8% of GDP for the same years. Its baseline assumed a structural primary surplus of 1.7% of GDP from 2024 onward.
The same report projected real GDP growth of 2.2% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025. It projected unemployment at 10.3% in 2024 and 9.7% in 2025, gross fixed capital formation growth at 6.7% and 8.4%, and export growth of 4.2% in 2024. Import growth was projected at 3.8% in 2024.
The Commission said government gross financing needs were expected to average around 8.5% of GDP over 2024-2025. Its longer-range baseline projected the debt ratio to decline to around 119% of GDP in 2034. That figure is a projection, not an observed outcome.
The report also quantified uncertainty. It estimated a 15% probability that Greece’s debt ratio would be higher in 2028 than in 2023, and placed the uncertainty band around the baseline debt projections at around 56% of GDP in five years’ time. Under its financial stress scenario, the debt ratio would be 3.0 percentage points higher in 2034. Under a lower structural primary balance scenario, it would be 0.9 percentage points higher in 2034.
These estimates and scenarios describe possible paths under stated assumptions. They do not replace the dated debt observations from Eurostat or the PDMA, and the projected figures should not be presented as later measured results.