HELSINKI, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- In the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, Finland's public sector debt jumped by 12.6 billion euros (14.78 billion U.S. dollars) from the previous quarter to reach 245.9 billion euros, marking the sharpest quarterly increase since 2000, Statistics Finland said Tuesday.
"This is the largest euro-denominated quarterly increase in public sector debt since the current statistics began in 2000," said Anna Mustonen, chief actuary at Statistics Finland. She noted that only in the first quarter of 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, had debt growth almost approached this level.
Central government borrowing drove the surge, with debt up 11.1 billion euros quarter-on-quarter. Higher debt levels were also recorded for local governments and social security funds.
The surge was mainly fueled by a 10.7-billion-euro quarter-on-quarter increase in government debt securities, the agency noted.
In Q2, public sector debt stood at 88.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), up from 83.6 percent in the previous quarter. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollar)
