Higher government debt but lower cost in 2025

News 17 February 2026

Sweden’s central government debt continued to grow in 2025 as the budget showed a deficit for the second consecutive year. The cost of the debt decreased, however, mainly due to the appreciation of the krona. The Swedish National Debt Office met the growing borrowing requirement by increasing the supply of government bonds.

Today, the Debt Office is submitting the report “Central Government Debt Management – Basis for Evaluation 2025” to the Government. The yearly report describes how the Debt Office conducted the borrowing and debt management in the previous year, on the basis of the Government’s guidelines and the objective of minimising the cost of the debt over the long-term while taking account of risk.

Year in brief 

• The central government debt increased by SEK 93 billion in 2025 and was SEK 1,244 billion at the end of the year. The debt ratio rose from 18 to 19 per cent of GDP (based on the Debt Office’s GDP forecast).
• The cost of the debt decreased to SEK 13 billion, corresponding to 0.2 per cent of GDP. It was mainly the cost of the currency exposed portion of the debt that fell as the krona appreciated.
• The debt’s term to maturity was in the middle of the target range of 3.5–6 years. The Debt Office continued to phase out the foreign currency exposure of the debt and, in accordance with the new adopted guidelines, began decreasing the inflation-linked debt.
• The refinancing risk of the central government debt was stable. Relative to the euro area, Sweden has a higher share of debt maturing in the near term, while the amount maturing as a share of GDP is lower.
• The Debt Office continued to increase the supply of nominal government bonds over the year in order to fund the budget deficit and maturing loans. Short-term and foreign currency borrowing also increased.
• Demand was strong in relation to the supply in the Debt Office’s auctions. In an annual survey, primary dealers responded that they have seen increased interest in Swedish government securities among foreign investors.
• Confidence in the Debt Office’s borrowing operations remained high among both primary dealers and Swedish investors. Investors also saw improvement of the liquidity in the government securities market.

Read the full report

Central Government Debt Management – Basis for Evaluation 2025 (only available in Swedish)

Read more about the annual survey of market confidence for the Debt Office and the assessment of market liquidity:

Results of the annual market survey (in Swedish)