Report highlights include:
- EU Member States and the UK issued EUR 944 bn in bonds and bills throughout 3Q25, which represents an increase of 5.2% (YoY) compared to 3Q24 and a seasonal decrease of 7.7% (QoQ) compared to 2Q25.
- Highest third-quarter trading volumes in European (EU+UK) government bonds during Q3 2025, according to MarketAxess TraX, with trading increasing 10% (YoY) and decreasing 11% (QoQ). This places Q3 2025 among the top five quarters for average daily traded volume (since 2014).
- Outstanding amount of European ESG government bonds reached EUR 610.9 bn during 3Q25. Volumes were driven by new green bonds issued by Poland (EUR 1.3bn), Denmark (EUR 1.1bn) and a new sustainability-linked bond issued by Slovenia (EUR 1.0bn). Green volumes were further supported by tap issuance by Germany (EUR 3.9 bn), the UK (EUR 2.3 bn), Spain (EUR 1.1 bn), Belgium (EUR 0.8 bn), Austria (EUR 0.7 bn), Ireland (EUR 0.7 bn), France (EUR 0.5 bn) and the European Commission (EUR 1.3bn).
- During 3Q25 there were 8 long-term credit rating upgrades for European countries and 2 downgrades. This follows 2 upgrades and no downgrades in 1Q25, 3 upgrades and 2 downgrades in 2Q25, bringing the 2025 year-to-date total to 17 upgrades and 5 downgrades (there were 4 further upgrades and 1 downgrade in 4Q25).
- The average bid-cover ratio (demand/amount allocated) was 2.44 in 3Q25, a decrease of 7.6% (QoQ) from 2Q25 and a decrease of 1.2% from 3Q24 (YoY).
