Spain: public debt falls below 100% of GDP in July, a first since 2020

The level of public debt in Spain fell below 100% of GDP in July, a first since 2020, the Bank of Spain announced on Thursday, a new reflection of the good health of the national economy.

“The debt balance of all public administrations stood at 99.9% of GDP in July 2026, or 2.4 percentage points less than the same period of the previous year,” the Madrid-based monetary institution detailed in a press release. This is “the first time since February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic,” she continued. In volume terms, public debt stood at 1,744 billion euros in July.

The government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had set the objective of falling below this symbolic threshold before the end of the year. As early as 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic led to the explosion of public spending in Spain, with debt reaching its highest 124.2% of GDP in March 2021. Since then, the trend has been downward, favored by the strength of the Spanish economy, driven by the windfall from tourism, household consumption and foreign investment.

In the second quarter, GDP increased by 0.7%, almost double the growth of the euro zone, despite the economic fallout from hostilities in the Middle East and accelerating inflation. This, in fact, rose to 4.3% in August, due to the explosion in fuel prices, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In this generally favorable context, the Spanish government anticipates sustained growth of 2.6% in 2026, after 2.8% in 2025.