Public administrations' debt reached 1.736 trillion euros in April, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year. Despite this, its weight on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell to 101% compared to the same month last year, meaning 1.6 percentage points less, according to data released this Tuesday by the Bank of Spain.
In absolute terms, the volume of debt (1.736 trillion) increased by 4.4% compared to April of last year, although it recorded a slight monthly decrease of 0.2% compared to March, when historical highs of 1.740 trillion euros were reached.
The Government expects that by the end of 2026, the public debt ratio will break the 100% of GDP threshold and stand at 99.3%, advancing the goal of lowering that bar by one year, initially planned for the end of the legislature.
Although the Executive's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan outlines a downward trajectory for debt in the coming years, official projections do not detail when Spain will manage to fall below the prudent level of 60% set by Brussels.
Behavior by administrations
By sub-sectors, the State's debt balance stood at 1.582 trillion euros, 4.5% more than a year earlier, equivalent to 92% of GDP. In the case of Other Central Government Units, debt rose to 33 billion (1.9% of GDP), implying a fall of 6.5% compared to April of the previous year.
For its part, the indebtedness of Social Security Administrations stood at 136 billion, 7.9% above the figure from a year ago and equivalent to 7.9% of GDP. This increase is due to loans granted by the State to the General Treasury of Social Security to cover its budgetary imbalance.
Regarding territorial administrations, the debt of the Autonomous Communities reached 351 billion euros in April 2026, 20.4% of GDP, with a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. In contrast, the debt of Local Corporations fell to 21 billion euros (1.2% of GDP), representing a decrease of 9.5% compared to the amount recorded a year earlier.
Debt by instruments and maturities
Regarding the evolution of debt according to different instruments and maturities, all components registered positive year-on-year variation rates.
Specifically, long-term values and loans with maturity greater than one year recorded year-on-year growths of 3.9% and 7.1%, respectively, while short-term instruments also showed a year-on-year rate of change of 7.1%.