General government deficit 3.4 per cent and debt 88.5 per cent relative to gross domestic product in 2025

General government’s financial position improved despite the deficit

According to the preliminary data reported by Statistics Finland to Eurostat, general government deficit, or net borrowing according to national accounts, was EUR 9.6 billion in 2025. According to the preliminary data, the financial position of general government improved by EUR 2.4 billion from the previous year.

General government deficit relative to GDP was 3.4 per cent in 2025. The financial position developed differently in the sub-sectors of general government. Central government net borrowing amounted to EUR 10.9 billion. It weakened by EUR 0.7 billion from the year before. Local government net borrowing was EUR 0.7 billion and it improved by EUR 1.9 billion from the previous year. The financial position of social security funds also improved to EUR 2.0 billion. Net lending increased by EUR 1.2 billion from the previous year.

General government deficit in 2024 was revised to EUR 12.0 billion.

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Consolidated general government gross debt (EDP debt) amounted to EUR 248 billion at the end of 2025.

The debt grew by EUR 21.1 billion in 2025. Debt grew in central government by EUR 18.9 billion and in local government by EUR 1.3 billion. The debt of social security funds increased by EUR 0.8 billion.

The decrease in consolidated items between general government by EUR 130 million contributed to the debt of the entire general government sector growing by said EUR 21.1 billion in 2025. The EDP debt describes general government’s debt to the other sectors of the economy and to the rest of the world, and its development is influenced by changes in both the unconsolidated gross debt and the internal general government debt.

EDP reporting tables, notification in April 2026 (in English only) (PDF)

EDP reporting tables also include appendix tables on RRF assistance received by Finland from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, on the national cofinancing of EU funded projects and on defence expenditure according to the general government task classification.

Eurostat will publish the data on Members States on 22 April 2026.

Central government's EDP debt differs as a concept from the central government debt published by the State Treasury

General government surplus/deficit refers to net lending/borrowing according to the sector accounts of national accounts, which is the difference between total revenue and expenditure. For instance, in the case of local government, the concept differs from the surplus/deficit of the accounting period according to the profit and loss accounts of municipalities and joint municipal authorities included in the sector. The key difference concerns investments, which are recorded in national accounts as expenditure as such.

In general government accounts, the European Financial Stability Facility EFSF is, based on Eurostat's decision, handled so that the EFSF's borrowing is recorded as part of the gross government debt of the countries that have provided guarantees. The loan received by the beneficiary country from the EFSF is recorded as if it had been received from the countries in the euro area that have provided guarantees and these countries in turn owe the corresponding amount to the EFSF. As a result, the EDP gross debt of the countries that provided guarantees grows but the net debt remains unchanged because the countries have a similar receivable from the beneficiary country.

The gross government debt to be recorded in each country’s general government debt on the loans granted by the EFSF is calculated by dividing the loan granted to the beneficiary country by the contribution key (based on the share in the ECB's capital of each country participating in the support operations).

At the end of 2025, Finland's general government debt includes EUR 3.6 billion of debt granted by the EFSF to beneficiary countries. Corresponding treatment does not apply to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Central government's EDP debt differs as a concept from the central government debt published by the State Treasury. Central government's EDP debt includes loans granted to beneficiary counties by the European Financial Stability Facility EFSF, received cash collateral related to derivative contracts, the capital of the Nuclear Waste Management Fund, debts generated from investments in central government's PPP (public-private partnership) projects, and coins that are in circulation. ARA interest subsidy loans are also included in general government debt.

In National Accounts, central government is also a broader concept than the budget and financial economy. However, the State Pension Fund is classified as a social security fund. The valuation principle for both debt concepts is the nominal value, where the effect of interest-rate contracts and currency swaps is considered. When these differences are taken into consideration, we reach the central government non-consolidated gross debt in accordance with the EDP concept.

In 2025, the State Treasury's central government debt EUR 187.7 billion + conceptual differences of the debt and differences caused by the sector delimitation in total EUR 8.2 billion + differences due to the recording of ARA interest subsidy loans EUR 12.8 billion = central government gross debt EUR 208.7 billion.

The stock of ARA interest subsidy loans added to local government amounted to EUR 8.0 billion. Hence, the impact of the rearrangement of ARA interest subsidy loans on the general government consolidated EDP debt was EUR 20.7 billion.

A list of units belonging to general government and decisions on major sector classification cases (only in Finnish).