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Government debt to GDP ratio at 107.2%

23/10/2019 10:46

At the end of the second quarter of 2019, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA19) stood at 86.4%, compared with 86.5% at the end of the first quarter of 2019, according to data released on Tuesday by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

According to Eurostat, in the EU28, the ratio decreased from 81.1% to 80.5%. Compared with the second quarter of 2018, the government debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 87.3% to 86.4%) and the EU28 (from 81.5% to 80.5%).

Eurostat states that the highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2019 were recorded in Greece (180.2%), Italy (138.0%), Portugal (121.2%), Cyprus (107.2%) and Belgium (104.7%) and the lowest in Estonia (9.3%), Luxembourg (20.3%) and Bulgaria (20.4%).

Compared with the first quarter of 2019, ten Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2019 and sixteen a decrease, while the ratio remained stable in Spain and France.

The highest increases in the ratio were observed in Cyprus (+4.0 percentage points – pp), Lithuania (+2.1 pp) and Finland (+1.8 pp).

The largest decreases were recorded in Portugal (-2.5 pp), Greece (-1.9 pp) and Ireland (-1.6 pp).

Compared with the second quarter of 2018, eight Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2019 and twenty a decrease.

The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Cyprus (+6.4 pp), Greece (+2.7 pp) and Italy (+2.0 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Hungary and Slovenia (both -5.2 pp), Austria (-4.7 pp), Portugal (-4.5 pp) and Ireland (-4.4 pp).

According to Eurostat, at the end of the second quarter of 2019, debt securities accounted for 80.8% of euro area and for 81.6% of EU28 general government debt. Loans made up 15.6% and 13.7% respectively and currency and deposits represented 3.6% of euro area and 4.7% 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 as percentage of GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2019 amounted to 2.0% in the euro area and to 1.5% in the EU28.

Finally, in the second quarter of 2019, the seasonally adjusted general government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 0.7% in the euro area (EA19), compared with 0.6% in the first quarter of 2019. In the EU28, the deficit to GDP ratio stood at 0.9%, compared with 0.8% in the previous quarter In the second quarter of 2019, total government revenue in the euro area amounted to 46.2% of GDP, unchanged compared to the first quarter of 2019. Total government expenditure in the euro area stood at 47.0% of GDP, an increase compared with 46.9% in the previous quarter. In the EU28, total government revenue was 44.9% of GDP in the second quarter of 2019, unchanged compared to the first quarter of 2019. Total government expenditure in the EU28 was 45.8% of GDP, an increase compared with 45.6% in the previous quarter.

For Greece and Cyprus only non adjusted figures are reported by Eurostat. More specifically the surplus/ deficit figures were 2.2% for 2018Q2 -22.6% for 2018Q3, -3.5% for 2018Q4 8.9% for 2019Q1 and 2.9% for 2019Q2  and for Greece  -0.2 5.0 -0.1 -4.2 0.7 respectively.