Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Statistics
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 10:05
Government debt down to 86.3% of GDP in euro area
Compared with the second quarter of 2017, the government
debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 89.2% to 86.3%) and the EU28
(from 83.4% to 81.0%).
At the end of the second quarter of 2018, debt securities accounted for 81.1% of euro area and for 81.9% of EU28 general government debt. Loans made up 15.9% and 14.0% respectively and currency and deposits represented 3.0% of euro area and 4.1% of EU28 government debt. Due to the involvement of EU Member States' governments in financial assistance to certain Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) is also published. The share of IGL in GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2018 amounted to 2.0% in the euro area and to 1.5% in the EU28.
These data are
released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Government debt at the end of the second quarter 2018 by Member State
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of
the second quarter of 2018 were recorded in Greece (179.7%), Italy (133.1%) and
Portugal (124.9%), and the lowest in Estonia (8.3%), Luxembourg (22.0%) and
Bulgaria (23.8%).
Compared with the first quarter of 2018, six Member States
registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second
quarter of 2018, twenty-one a decrease and the ratio remained stable in Sweden.
The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Cyprus (+10.6 percentage
points – pp), Latvia (+1.4 pp), the United Kingdom (+1.1 pp) and Slovakia (+1.0
pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Slovenia (-2.8 pp), Germany (-1.2
pp), the Netherlands (-1.1 pp) and Lithuania (-1.0 pp).
Compared with the second quarter of 2017, three Member
States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the
second quarter of 2018, and twenty-five a decrease. An increase in the ratio
was recorded in Greece (+3.5 pp), the United Kingdom (+0.3 pp) and Slovakia
(+0.1 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Slovenia (-7.4 pp),
Lithuania (-6.5 pp), Ireland (-6.4 pp), Portugal (-5.9 pp) and Malta (-5.5 pp).