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Cyprus had the largest annual decrease in public debt in the EU28 for Q3 2017

24/01/2018 15:34

Cyprus had the second largest debt decrease in quarterly basis (-2.9 pp) and the largest decrease in annual basis (-7.4 pp), among EU 28 countries, according to Eurostat data released today. Mores specifically in Q3 2017 Cyprus debt was 103.2% compared with 106.1% in Q2 2017 and 110.6% in Q3 2016.

At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA19) stood at 88.1%, compared with 89.0% at the end of the second quarter of 2017. In the EU28, the ratio also decreased from 83.3% to 82.5%.

Compared with the third quarter of 2016, the government debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 89.7% to 88.1%) and the EU28 (from 82.9% to 82.5%).

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2017 were recorded in Greece (177.4%), Italy (134.1%) and Portugal (130.8%), and the lowest in Estonia (8.9%), Luxembourg (23.4%) and Bulgaria (25.6%).

Compared with the second quarter of 2017, three Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2017, twenty three a decrease and the debt-to-GDP ratio for Estonia and Luxembourg remained unchanged. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Greece (+1.3 percentage points – pp) and Belgium (+0.9 pp).

The largest decreases were recorded in the Czech Republic (-4.3 pp), Cyprus (-2.9 pp), Lithuania (-2.3 pp) and Bulgaria (-2.1 pp).

Compared with the third quarter of 2016, three Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2017, twenty four a decrease and Latvia remained stable.

Increases in the ratio were recorded in Italy (+2.0 pp), Luxembourg (+1.7 pp) and France (+1.0 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Cyprus (-7.4 pp), the Netherlands (-4.5 pp), Malta (-4.4 pp) and Germany (-4.1 pp).