Latvia's National Debt Continues to Grow: How Much Each Resident Owes

By the end of the second quarter of 2026, Latvia's national debt amounted to €11,700 per resident. This data was published by the Fiscal Discipline Council (FDC), as reported by the LETA agency. Despite the impressive amount per capita, Latvia's debt burden remains relatively low by European standards. The total national debt is 48% of the gross domestic product (GDP). This means that Latvia is currently meeting one of the Maastricht criteria, according to which national debt should not exceed 60% of GDP. However, the situation has changed somewhat over the year. Compared to the second quarter of 2025, the ratio of national debt to GDP has increased by 0.9 percentage points. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance expects further growth in the debt burden. According to preliminary forecasts, in 2026, the national debt will be 47.9% of GDP, in 2027 it will reach 51.8%, in 2028 it will be 52.8%, and by 2030 it will reach 54.1% of GDP. Thus, in the next four years, Latvia may approach the threshold set by European rules of 60% of GDP, although, according to current forecasts, it will not exceed it. The growth of national debt also means an increase in servicing costs. In 2026, interest payments are projected to be at 1.3% of GDP, in 2027–2028 they will be 1.4%, and in 2029–2030 they will already be 1.6% of GDP. For the state budget, this means that a larger share of the country's economy will be directed towards interest payments on debts. These funds need to be taken into account when planning other state expenditures. Against the backdrop of other European countries, Latvia's situation currently appears relatively favorable. The highest national debt per resident is recorded in Belgium at €60,100, while the lowest is in Bulgaria, where it is €5,500. When comparing debt not in euros per person but as a percentage of GDP, Greece emerges as the leader with a figure of 140.8%. The lowest debt burden by this criterion is in neighboring Estonia, where it stands at 26.1% of GDP. At the same time, the growth of debt is not only observed in Latvia. Of the 14 European countries where national debt does not exceed 60% of GDP, in 11, its share in the economy has increased over the past year. On average, the increase was 1.9 percentage points. Among countries with higher levels of debt, the situation is uneven. In six countries, the debt burden has decreased, most notably in Greece, by 11.2 percentage points. In seven other countries, it has increased. The most significant increase was recorded in Poland, by 6.7 percentage points. It is important to note that the amount of €11,700 per resident is not a personal debt of the citizen. It is a statistical indicator obtained by distributing the total national debt among the country's population. It does not mean that each person will have to pay the specified amount individually. The national debt encompasses the obligations of the entire public administration sector, including state and municipal institutions, as well as the state social security system. Thus, while Latvia remains within the limits of European debt norms for now, in the coming years, the government will have to consider not only the increase in the debt itself but also the rising costs of servicing it.