Cyprus’ apparent cost of government debt increased to 2 per cent in 2025, while the country’s debt remained overwhelmingly denominated in euro in line with the wider euro area, according to Eurostat.

The latest figures formed part of newly released Eurostat data on general government debt in the European Union, which also examined debt instruments, debt holders, debt maturities, transactions in debt securities and government guarantees.

Across the bloc, the structure of general government gross debt differed considerably from country to country.

These differences reflected factors such as the initial and remaining maturity of debt, the instruments used by governments and the institutional sectors holding the debt.

However, a much more uniform picture emerged when debt was examined according to its currency denomination.

By the end of 2025, all members of the euro area (EA20) had virtually all of their general government gross debt denominated in euro.

Eurostat said that more than 99.5 per cent of government debt in every euro area country was denominated in the single currency.

This means that Cyprus, along with the other eurozone members, maintained almost complete reliance on the euro for its public borrowing.

Among countries outside the euro area, the Czech Republic and Sweden also displayed a strong preference for issuing debt in their own national currencies.

In both countries, more than 90 per cent of government debt was denominated domestically.

Only two EU countries had more than half of their government debt denominated in foreign currencies at the end of 2025.

Bulgaria recorded the highest share, with 75 per cent of its debt issued in foreign currencies.

Of Bulgaria’s total debt, 71 per cent was denominated in euro.

Romania followed, with 53 per cent of its government debt issued in foreign currencies.

Significant shares of foreign currency debt were also registered in Hungary, where the figure stood at 32 per cent, in Poland at 26 per cent, and in Denmark at 24 per cent.

Eurostat said that the majority of foreign currency debt held by non-euro area EU countries was denominated in euro.

For all EU member states, more than 90 per cent of government debt was denominated either in euro or, in the case of countries outside the euro area, in their national currencies.

The figures also showed that the apparent cost of government debt either rose slightly or remained broadly stable in most EU countries between 2024 and 2025.

Cyprus followed this trend, with the apparent cost of its debt increasing from 1.9 per cent in 2024 to 2 per cent in 2025.

The increase continued a gradual upward movement seen over recent years.

The apparent cost of Cypriot government debt stood at 1.7 per cent in 2022 before rising to 1.8 per cent in 2023.

Among the countries for which data were available, Romania reported the highest apparent cost of government debt at 5.2 per cent.

Romania was followed by Poland with 4.5 per cent, the Czech Republic with 3.1 per cent, and Italy with 3 per cent.

The lowest apparent cost of debt was recorded in Ireland, where it stood at 1.4 per cent. Luxembourg followed with 1.5 per cent.

The Netherlands registered 1.7 per cent, while Germany posted 1.8 per cent. France, Finland and Sweden each recorded an apparent debt cost of 1.9 per cent.

By contrast, seven EU countries experienced declines in their debt costs during 2025.

The largest reduction was observed in Estonia, where the apparent cost fell by 0.8 percentage points.

Finally, Sweden recorded a decline of 0.3 percentage points, while Croatia registered a decrease of 0.2 percentage points.