The general government consists of the central government, the local government and the social security funds, all of which carry debt. The consolidated debt of the general government is typically lower than the sum of the debt of the central government, local governmentm and social security funds because some of their debt is towards other government units (for example, the central government might be indebted to local government or to the social security funds). The next graph presents the evolution of the debt of each government unit.

The debt of the general government consists of, broadly, currency and deposits (usually small), debt securities (bonds), and loans.

The average duration of debt measures how often, on average, the debt needs to be refinanced. The next graph presents the average duration of central government debt.

Public debt can be decomposed according to its repayment time into: short-term debt (less than a year), medium-term debt (between one and five years), and long-term debt (more than five years).