EU Debt per Person in 2026: Belgium, Italy and France Lead

Government debt across the EU amounted to about €35,200 per person in the first quarter of 2026. That weighted EU average hides a wide range: roughly €59,100 in Belgium, €53,600 in Italy and €51,200 in France, compared with about €5,300 in Bulgaria.

These figures combine Eurostat's provisional government-debt stock at the end of Q1 2026 with Eurostat's population estimate for 1 January 2026. They make very large national totals easier to compare, but they are not an invoice for each resident and do not measure a country's ability to repay.

Data update: Debt values refer to 31 March 2026 and population to 1 January 2026. Results are rounded to the nearest €100. The small difference between the two reference dates is stated explicitly so the calculation can be reproduced.

Key takeaways

• EU-27 government debt totalled about €15.91 trillion, or approximately €35,200 per resident.
• Belgium, Italy and France were the only EU countries above €50,000 per person.
• Austria and Finland completed the top five, at about €46,800 and €45,100.
• Bulgaria had the lowest figure at about €5,300, followed by Estonia at €7,800 and Latvia at €11,100.
• Debt per person measures the scale of debt relative to population; debt-to-GDP remains more useful for comparing repayment capacity.

EU debt per person: all 27 countries

Calculation: Q1 2026 general government gross debt divided by population on 1 January 2026. Values rounded to the nearest €100. Source: Eurostat.

Why Belgium ranks first

Belgium combined a government-debt stock of about €706.6 billion with a population of just under 12 million. Dividing those figures produces approximately €59,100 per resident—the highest result in the EU-27.

This does not mean Belgium has the EU's largest debt stock; France, Italy and Germany all owe more in absolute terms. Belgium rises to the top because its debt is spread across a much smaller population. Its debt-to-GDP ratio was also high at 109.1%, so both measures point to a substantial fiscal burden.

Italy and France pass €50,000

Italy recorded about €3.16 trillion in government debt, equal to roughly €53,600 for each of its 58.9 million residents. France had the EU's largest debt stock—about €3.54 trillion—and a population of 69.1 million, producing approximately €51,200 per person.

The ranking shows why population changes matter. If debt rises while population falls, debt per person increases faster. Italy's population was lower than a year earlier, while France remained one of the EU's most populous countries.

Why Greece is not near the top

Greece had the EU's highest debt-to-GDP ratio in Q1 2026 at 143.5%, yet it ranked around tenth by debt per person at approximately €34,700. The apparent contradiction comes from the denominator.

Debt per person divides by population. Debt-to-GDP divides by the size of the economy. Greece's debt stock per resident was close to Germany's, but its economy produces much less output per resident. That is why its repayment burden looks far heavier in the debt-to-GDP comparison.

Use the EU debt-to-GDP ranking alongside this table rather than treating either measure as a complete risk score.

The Netherlands sits below the EU average

The Netherlands recorded about €517.4 billion in government debt and a population of 18.1 million. That works out at roughly €28,500 per person, below the weighted EU average of €35,200.

The figure is useful for scale, but it does not show who holds Dutch government securities or how public debt compares with Dutch financial assets. The separate Dutch debt-ownership analysis explains those distinctions in more detail.

What debt per person can tell us

The measure turns trillions and billions into a common unit. It highlights how population size changes the meaning of an absolute debt stock and makes it easier to compare similarly sized countries.

It is also straightforward to reproduce. For each country, divide Eurostat's general government gross debt in euros by Eurostat's population estimate. A reader can therefore inspect both inputs and understand why the result changes.

What it cannot tell us

Government debt is owed by the state, not divided into personal legal balances. A resident cannot be asked to pay the displayed amount as an individual debt, and children are not born with a government mortgage.

The measure also ignores income, wealth, government assets, interest costs and economic output. A richer economy may sustain a higher euro amount per resident more easily than a poorer economy. For fiscal capacity and trend, debt-to-GDP, the budget balance, interest costs and maturity structure remain essential.

How the calculation was made

1. Take Eurostat's provisional general government gross debt for each EU country at the end of Q1 2026.
2. Take Eurostat's total population estimate for 1 January 2026 from dataset demo_gind, indicator JAN.
3. Divide the debt stock in euros by population and round the result to the nearest €100.
4. Sum all 27 debt stocks and populations separately to calculate the weighted EU average.

The debt and population dates differ by three months. That is a normal limitation when combining quarterly fiscal statistics with annual demographic data, and it is small enough for this illustrative comparison. It should still be disclosed rather than hidden.

What happens next

Eurostat's next regular quarterly government-debt release is scheduled for 21 October 2026. EU Debt Map will update this ranking after the Q2 debt figures are validated for all available countries. Population will remain tied to 1 January 2026 until Eurostat publishes a newer comparable annual estimate.

Bottom line

Belgium had the highest EU government debt per person in Q1 2026, followed by Italy and France. Bulgaria and Estonia had the lowest figures. The ranking reveals the scale of public borrowing relative to population—but it is not a household bill and not a substitute for debt-to-GDP.

The most useful reading combines three questions: how much does the government owe, how many people share the economy supporting it, and how large is the debt compared with that economy?

Sources and methodology

• Eurostat: Government debt at the end of Q1 2026
• Eurostat: Population on 1 January 2026
• EU Debt Map methodology