George Christoforou / EPA
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni
Greece should no longer be the most indebted country in the euro zone by the end of this year, when Athens’ public debt will be below Italy’s.
Greece’s GDP is estimated to fall to around 137% this year, a reduction from 145.9% recorded in 2025. In contrast, Italy’s debt is expected to peak at 138.6% in 2026, an increase from 137.1% of GDP in 2025.
According to the in the last two decadesGreece was the country with the highest debt rate in the euro zone, but this figure has decreased by more than 60 percentage points, from a peak of 209.4% of GDP in 2020 to 145.9% last year. Over the same period, Italy recorded a reduction of only around 17 percentage points.
Following a decade-long financial crisis and three aid packages worth around 280 billion eurosGreece is accelerating the fiscal consolidation process. The government of this country plans to reimburse in advance approximately 7 billion euros of the first aid package later this year.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloniconsiders that Italy’s debt would have started to decline sooner and more quickly if it were not for the negative impact of construction incentives financed by its predecessors, Giuseppe Conte e Mario Draghi.
After a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian economy returned to a slow growth trajectory, with three consecutive years (2023-2025) of growth below 1%despite having received a significant amount from the European Union’s recovery fund.
This trend is expected to continue until 2029in accordance with the budget plan.
In contrast, Greece recorded stable growth of more than 2% over the last three years, surpassing the EU average thanks to boost in investment, domestic demand and strong recovery in the tourism sector.
