Interest Expenses on Government Debt

In 2026, Finland paid a total of €3.2B in interest on its central government debt, equivalent to 1.6% of the total debt stock. This page shows how interest expenses on central government debt have developed since 2002.

Interest expenses now

€3.2B

In 2026, 1.6% of total debt

Interest expenses in 2016 (10 years ago)

€1.5B

Change to today: +€1.7B

Interest expenses in 2006 (20 years ago)

€2.3B

Change to today: +€1.0B

Change since 2002

€-0.4B

Starting from €3.6B

Interest expenses

Interest expenses are government expenditures used to pay the interest on the debt. They do not reduce the principal at all.

Interest costs in perspective

What do the interest expenses mean in practice?

Interest cost per employed worker

Based on 2,520,000 employed workers

€1,288

Share of annual state budget

Based on a budget of €90.0B

3.6%

Compared to the defence budget

Defence budget: €6.3B

0.5×

Avg. annual change (last 10 yrs)

Interest expenses change by this amount every year on average

+€0.2B

Biggest annual increases

Years when interest expenses grew the most

YearChangeLevel
1.2023+€1.5B€2.3B
2.2024+€0.9B€3.2B
3.2026+€0.2B€3.2B
4.2007+€0.1B€2.3B
5.2022+€0.1B€0.8B

Want to see the debt itself?

The Debt Development page shows how Finland's total central government debt has grown, including the largest annual increases and key historical events.

See debt development