Czech national debt rose by CZK 254.3 billion to CZK 3.365 trillion last year. At the end of last week, the Ministry of Finance confirmed the figures that had already been published in a preliminary report at the beginning of January. Converted to the country’s per capita debt, this means that each Czech has a debt share of CZK 308,812.
The total value of public debt reached CZK 3,365.2 billion at the end of 2024, which corresponds to an increase of CZK 254.3 billion compared to 2023. In relation to gross domestic product (GDP), debt rose from 40.8% to 42.0% compared to the previous year.
The gross borrowing requirement, which totalled CZK 511.2 billion in 2024, was mainly financed through the sale of medium- and long-term government bonds in koruna on the domestic bond market. These were placed via auctions organised by the Czech National Bank, which continued to be the most important source of the Czech Republic’s financing requirements and accounted for around 90% of total government debt. Gross issues on the primary and secondary markets totalled CZK 376.0 billion, of which CZK 20.7 billion was in the form of floating-rate government bonds. The average maturity of government debt at the end of 2024 was 6.3 years.
In 2024, there were three regular repayments of medium- and long-term government bonds with a total value of CZK 138.0 billion. In addition, government bonds worth CZK 40.9 billion were repurchased before their maturity date.
Public debt is made up of government debt and arises mainly from the accumulation of deficits in the state budget. It is financed by treasury bills, government bonds, direct loans, or loans from the European Investment Bank.
