Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in countries across Europe in recent weeks. Anger is growing over the rising cost of living, low wages, unaffordable rents and house prices, and a lack of adequate funding for schools and universities.
Some protests in France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal turned into clashes, looting and arson, though many were peaceful. France is at the centre of the unrest. According to its interior ministry, more than 550,000 people joined protests across the country on Saturday. The protests came amid weeks of student demonstrations over education and the cost of living.
The situation has put governments’ financial troubles back in the spotlight. Governments across Europe are struggling to keep the problem under control. After years of heavy borrowing, many European countries are deep in debt, and the interest on that debt keeps rising.
How do governments borrow?
Governments borrow in much the same way as ordinary people. But instead of taking loans from banks, a government raises money by selling bonds. In return, it pays interest to the bond buyers and promises to repay the principal at a set time.
A 10-year bond is a type of loan that a government repays after a decade. The bond’s yield is the return investors earn for lending the money. It is seen as an important indicator of investors’ confidence in a country’s ability to manage its debt.
How it works
The government borrows: an investor pays 100 euros for a 10-year bond. The government pays interest: for the next 10 years the investor receives a fixed amount of interest every year. At an interest rate of 2.5 percent, they receive 2.50 euros a year, or 25 euros in all. At 5 percent, they receive 5 euros a year, or 50 euros over 10 years.
The government repays the principal: at the end of 10 years the investor gets the original 100 euros back. When a bond’s price falls, its yield rises, which makes borrowing more expensive for the government. Just as a family’s monthly costs go up when the interest rate on its mortgage rises, a government has to spend more on interest. That leaves less money for essential areas such as schools, hospitals and roads.
Which countries owe the most?
The United States has the largest government debt in the world, at $41.4 trillion, or 127 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
The United States has the advantage of borrowing in the dollar, the world’s main reserve currency. Strong global demand for dollars helps keep investors interested in its government debt. But even its capacity to borrow is not unlimited.
China comes next, with government debt of $22.5 trillion, or 104 percent of GDP. Japan’s debt stands at $8.7 trillion. Among the major economies, Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio, at 199 percent. Britain’s government debt is $4.4 trillion, or 102 percent of its GDP.
France has the fifth-largest government debt in the world, at $4.2 trillion, or 118.5 percent of GDP. Italy’s government debt is $3.7 trillion, but its debt-to-GDP ratio is 138 percent, meaning its debt burden is heavier than France’s relative to the size of its economy. Germany’s government debt is $3.5 trillion, only 65 percent of its GDP.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that France’s government debt could rise to 121.8 percent of GDP by 2030, which could make efforts to put the country’s public finances back on a sustainable footing even harder.
$3.3 trillion spent on interest alone
Alongside government debt, the debts of households and private companies are also rising. According to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), total global debt rose by $10 trillion in the first six months of 2026 to more than $365 trillion. This includes the debts of governments, households and companies.
That comes to about $44,000 for every person in the world. Much of the increase came from emerging economies.
Paying the interest on this huge debt has also become expensive. Advanced economies spent more than $3.3 trillion over the past year on interest on government bonds.
That is more than the world spent on the military ($3.1 trillion), on artificial intelligence ($2.6 trillion) and on clean energy ($2.3 trillion).
Rising interest payments on government debt hit public services directly, leaving governments with less money for schools, hospitals and pensions. To meet the extra interest costs, governments may have to raise taxes or cut public spending.
When a government’s borrowing costs rise, interest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit cards can also go up.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report