The euro area’s general government debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio rose to 88.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from 88.2 percent in the last quarter of 2023. The latest Eurostat data also reveals that the European Union’s (EU) ratio rose to 82 percent from 81.5 percent.
Debt distribution
The debt was distributed among debt securities, loans, and currency and deposits. In the euro area, debt securities made up 83.9 percent of the government debt, 13.6 percent went to loans, and 2.6 percent to currency and deposits. Meanwhile, in the EU, 83.4 percent went to debt securities, 14 percent to loans, and 2.6 percent to currency and deposits.
In addition, intergovernmental lending (IGL) as a ratio of GDP reached 1.4 percent in the euro area and 1.2 percent in the EU. The statistics agency attributes this ratio to the involvement of EU member states’ governments in lending to certain member states.
Greece marks highest government debt-to-GDP ratio
Eurostat reveals that the highest ratio of government debt to GDP in the euro area was in Greece at 159.8 percent, Italy at 137.7 percent, and France at 110.8 percent.  Spain recorded a ratio of 108.9 percent, Belgium reached 108.2 percent and Portugal reached 100.4 percent.
On the other hand, the countries with the lowest government debt to GDP ratio were Bulgaria at 22.6 percent, Estonia at 23.6 percent, and Luxembourg at 27.2 percent.
Read: Bank of England rate cut bets rise as inflation steadies at 2 percent target
Mixed Q1 performance
In Q1 of 2024, 12 member states saw an annual increase in their debt-to-GDP ratio, 14 members saw a decline, and one remained stable.
Estonia saw the largest debt-to-GDP ratio rise of 6.3 percentage points. Following closely came Finland with a 4.2 percentage point rise, Poland with a 3.3 percentage point rise, and Slovakia with a 2.7 percentage point rise. Romania, Lithuania and Belgium also saw notable increases.
The countries that witnessed a decline in their debt-to-GDP ratio include Portugal, with the largest decline of 12 percentage points, Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. Meanwhile, Ireland’s ratio remained stable.
For more economy news, click here.
