Greece is set to cease being the euro zone’s most indebted country by the end of the year, as its public debt is projected to fall below Italy’s, according to sources cited by Reuters and data from Rome’s latest budget plan.
Two senior officials told Reuters that Greece’s debt is expected to decline to around 137% of GDP this year, down from 145% in 2025.
By contrast, Italy forecasts its debt will rise from 137.1% of GDP in 2025 to 138.6% in 2026, based on its multi-year fiscal plan.
“Greece will no longer be the most indebted country in the euro zone from this year,” one of the Greek officials said.
The updated estimate is expected to be included in Greece’s new medium-term fiscal plan, due to be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the month.
Italy’s debt is projected to remain broadly stable at 138.5% in 2027 before gradually declining to 137.9% in 2028 and 136.3% in 2029, according to the plan.
Since 2020, Greece’s public debt — long the highest in the euro zone — has fallen by more than 45 percentage points, reaching 145% of GDP last year. Over the same period, Italy has reduced its debt by around 17 percentage points.
Greece, still recovering from a decade-long financial crisis and three bailouts totaling roughly €280 billion, plans to repay about €7 billion in loans from its first bailout ahead of schedule later this year.
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