Government debt rises to 110.9% for Q3 2018

Government debt is down to 86.1% of GDP in euro area, down to 80.8% of GDP in the EU28 and up to 110.9 in Cyprus (22.643 bn) according to data released today by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In Q2 dept levels in Cyprus stood at 104% (20.932 bn) and in Q3 2017 at 101.3% (19.536 bn).

More specifically, at the end of the third quarter of 2018, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA19) stood at 86.1%, compared with 86.3% at the end of the second quarter of 2018. In the EU28, the ratio decreased from 81.0% to 80.8%. Compared with the third quarter of 2017, the government debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 88.2% to 86.1%) and the EU28 (from 82.5% to 80.8%).

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2018 were recorded in Greece (182.2 %), Italy (133.0%), Portugal (125.0%), Cyprus (110.9%) and Belgium (105.4%), and the lowest in Estonia (8.0%), Luxembourg (21.7%) and Bulgaria (23.1%).

Compared with the second quarter of 2018, six Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2018, nineteen a decrease and the ratio remained stable in three Member States. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Cyprus (+6.9 percentage points – pp) and Greece (+4.8 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Malta (-3.1 pp), Slovenia and Croatia (both -1.6 pp), Hungary and Czechia (both -1.4 pp), the Netherlands (-1.1 pp) and Poland (-1.0 pp).

Compared with the third quarter of 2017, four Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2018, and twenty-four a decrease. An increase in the ratio was recorded in Cyprus (+9.7 pp), Greece (+7.4 pp), the United Kingdom (+0.4 pp) and Slovakia (+0.1 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Slovenia (-8.0 pp), Malta (-6.8 pp), Portugal (-4.6 pp), Austria (-4.3 pp), Lithuania (-4.2 pp), the Netherlands (-4.1 pp), Ireland and Croatia (both -4.0 pp).

Meanwhile, the Seasonally adjusted government deficit increased to 0.5% of GDP in the euro area and is Up to 0.6% of GDP in the EU28.

Mores specifically, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, in the third quarter of 2018, the seasonally adjusted general government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 0.5% in the euro area (EA19), an increase compared with 0.3% in the second quarter of 2018. In the EU28, the deficit to GDP ratio stood at 0.6%, an increase compared with 0.4% in the previous quarter.

In the third quarter of 2018, total government revenue in the euro area amounted to 46.1% of GDP, a decrease compared with 46.2% in the second quarter of 2018. Total government expenditure in the euro area stood at 46.7% of GDP, an increase compared with 46.5% in the previous quarter.

In the EU28, total government revenue was 44.9% of GDP in the third quarter of 2018, unchanged compared to the second quarter of 2018. Total government expenditure in the EU28 was 45.5% of GDP, compared with 45.3% in the previous quarter.