European Finance Observatory

Concept · Brief definitionRelevant to you

Technical debt

Technical debt is the future cost of rework caused by choosing a quick or limited technical solution now, such as manual workarounds, outdated software versions or undocumented code. Like financial debt, it accrues "interest" in slower change and higher incident risk.

See related concepts

Roles that need it

This is a brief definition. A full explanation with a worked example is being written.

Skills it belongs to

Sources

Updated 31 Oct 2026.