Swedish government debt grew but cost less

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News 18 February 2025

Sweden’s central government debt increased in 2024 as higher government expenditure led to a budget deficit. The Swedish National Debt Office financed the larger borrowing requirement in part by issuing more government bonds. The debt nevertheless remains low from both a historical and international perspective.

Today, the Debt Office submitted its report Central Government Debt Management – Basis for Evaluation 2024 to the Government. The yearly report describes how the agency conducted government borrowing and debt management in the previous year, on the basis of the Government’s guidelines and the objective of minimising the long-term cost of the debt while taking account of risk.

Year in brief

  • The central government budget balance shifted to a deficit and the debt grew by SEK 124 billion to SEK 1,151 billion. This corresponds to a debt ratio of 18 per cent of GDP.
  • However, the cost of the central government debt went down to SEK 17 billion, corresponding to 0.3 per cent of GDP. The decrease is mainly due to lower inflation reducing the cost of the inflation-linked portion of the debt.
  • The reversal of the budget balance entails an increased borrowing requirement for the central government. Over the year, the Debt Office gradually raised the auction volume of government bonds.
  • The Debt Office’s higher issuance volume, together with bond sales by the Riksbank, led to an increased supply of government bonds in the market. According to market participants surveyed, this contributed to an evident improvement in market liquidity.
  • The average bid-to-cover ratio in the nominal government bond auctions decreased slightly in light of the greater supply. Nevertheless, the bidding volume was on average over three times as large as the volume offered.
  • Confidence in the Debt Office among market participants surveyed remained high, and our communication was rated as the primary strength. In 2024, we began publishing more detailed information about our planned bond issuance.

Read the full report

Central Government Debt Management – Basis for Evaluation 2024 (in Swedish)

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

Results of the annual market survey (in Swedish)