Government debt down to 91.6% of GDP in euro area and down to 84.0% of GDP in EU

April 24, 2023

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 91.6%, compared with 93.0% at the end of the third quarter of 2022. In the EU, the ratio also decreased from 85.1% to 84.0%. For both the euro area (EA19) and the EU, the decrease in government debt to GDP ratio is due to an increase in GDP outweighing the increase in government debt in absolute terms. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, the government debt to GDP ratio also decreased in both the euro area (from 95.5% to 91.6%) and the EU (from 88.0% to 84.0%).

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, debt securities accounted for 82.5% of euro area and for 81.9% of EU general government debt. Loans made up 14.5% and 15.1% respectively and currency and deposits represented 3.0% of euro area and 2.9% of EU government debt. Due to the involvement of EU Member States’ governments in lending to certain Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published. The share of IGL as percentage of GDP at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 accounted for 1.6% in the euro area and for 1.4% in the EU.

Government debt at the end of the fourth quarter 2022 by Member State

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 were recorded in Greece (171.3%), Italy (144.4%), Portugal (113.9%), Spain (113.2%), France (111.6%) and Belgium (105.1%), and the lowest in Estonia (18.4%), Bulgaria (22.9%) and Luxembourg (24.6%).

Compared with the third quarter of 2022, seven Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 and nineteen a decrease, while the ratio remained stable in Luxembourg. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Estonia (+2.5 percentage points – pp), the Netherlands (+2.0 pp), Lithuania and Finland (both +1.1 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Portugal (-5.9 pp), Cyprus (-4.8 pp), Greece (-4.5 pp), Ireland (-4.4 pp) and Austria (-3.0 pp).

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, four Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 and twenty three Member States a decrease. The increases in the ratio were recorded in Czechia (+2.1 pp), Estonia (+0.8 pp), Finland (+0.4 pp) and Luxembourg (+0.1 pp), while the largest decreases were observed in Greece (-23.3 pp), Cyprus (-14.7 pp), Portugal (-11.5 pp), Ireland (-10.7 pp), Croatia (-10.0 pp), Denmark (-6.6 pp), Italy (-5.5 pp), Lithuania (-5.3 pp), and Spain (-5.0 pp).

Source: Eurostat
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