Greece’s public debt falls to €360 bn while state liabilities climb above €3.7 tn

Eurostat data for the first quarter of 2026 show the euro area’s government debt‑to‑GDP ratio at 88.9 % and the EU’s at 82.9 %, up from the previous quarter. Greece still has the highest debt ratio in the bloc at 143.5 % of GDP, but it fell by 2.6 percentage points quarter‑on‑quarter and by 9.4 points year‑on‑year, marking the biggest reduction among the 27 EU members. The nominal amount of Greek public debt decreased to €360 billion, down more than €6 billion from the same period in 2025.

Separate statistics on Greece’s state‑sector liabilities reveal that overdue payments to private parties exceeded €3 trillion in May 2026, and when combined with €719 billion of pending tax refunds the total rose to €3.727 trillion – a level not seen since the third‑memorandum period. Public hospitals remain the largest source of these arrears, owing €1.519 trillion to suppliers, while local‑government debts jumped 92 % to €346 billion. Other public bodies, including social‑security agencies and miscellaneous legal entities, added further hundreds of billions of euros in overdue obligations.

Analysts note that the debt‑ratio decline improves Greece’s borrowing costs and investor confidence, even as the surge in state liabilities underscores persistent payment bottlenecks in the health sector and local administrations.