July 22, 2024

The euro area’s (EA20) general government gross debt-to-GDP ratio was 88.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2024, up from 88.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the EU, the percentage rose from 81.5% to 82.0%.

Government debt to GDP ratios fell in both the euro area (from 90.1% to 88.7%) and the EU (from 83.0% to 82.0%) compared to the first quarter of 2023.

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, general government debt comprised 83.9% debt securities in the euro area and 83.4% in the EU, 13.6% loans in the euro area and 14.0% in the EU, and 2.6% currency and deposits in both the euro area and the EU.

As a result of EU Member States’ governments lend to specific Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published. The IGL as a percentage of GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2024 was 1.4% in the euro area and 1.2% in the EU.

Government debt at the end of the first quarter of 2024 by Member State

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Greece (159.8%), Italy (137.7%), France (110.8%), Spain (108.9%), Belgium (108.2%), and Portugal (100.4%) had the highest government debt-to-GDP ratios, while Bulgaria (22.6%), Estonia (23.6%), and Luxembourg (27.2%) had the lowest.

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, twenty Member States’ debt-to-GDP ratios increased, while seven decreased, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. The ratio increased the most in Slovakia (+4.6 percentage points – pp), Estonia (+4.0 pp), Belgium (+3.1 pp), Romania (+2.8 pp), Hungary (+2.5 pp), and Austria (+2.1 pp), while it decreased in Greece (-2.1 pp), Cyprus and the Netherlands (both -1.2 pp), Sweden and Ireland (both -0.8 pp), Bulgaria (-0.5 pp), and Germany (-0.2 pp).

Compared to the first quarter of 2023, twelve Member States’ debt-to-GDP ratios increased, fourteen Member States decreased, and Ireland’s ratio stayed unchanged. The ratio increased the most in Estonia (+6.3 pp), Finland (+4.2 pp), Poland (+3.3 pp), Slovakia (+2.7 pp), Romania (+2.2 pp), Lithuania (+2.1 pp), and Belgium (+2.0 pp). Portugal (-12.0 pp), Greece (-9.6 pp), Cyprus (-6.8 pp), Croatia (-5.3 pp), the Netherlands (-2.8 pp), Spain, and Germany (both -2.2 pp) had the most significant drops.

(Source: Eurostat)

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