Govt gross debt-to-GDP ratio 88.2% in euro area at end of Q3 2024

Compared with Q3 2023, while the government debt-to-GDP ratio slightly decreased in the euro area from 88.4 per cent to 88.2 per cent, a slight increase was observed in the EU from 81.5 per cent to 81.6 per cent, according to Eurostat, the EU statistical office.

At the end of Q3 2024, the general government debt was made up of 84 per cent debt securities in the euro area and 83.6 per cent securities in the EU; 13.4 per cent loans in the euro area and 13.9 per cent loans in the EU; and 2.6 per cent currency and deposits in the euro area and 2.5 per cent in the EU.

The intergovernmental lending (IGL) as a percentage of GDP at the end of Q3 2024 stood at 1.5 per cent in the euro area and at 1.3 per cent in the EU.

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of Q3 2024 were recorded in Greece (158.2 per cent), Italy (136.3 per cent), France (113.8 per cent), Belgium (105.6 per cent) and Spain (104.3 per cent), and the lowest were recorded in Estonia (24 per cent), Bulgaria (24.6 per cent) and Luxembourg (26.6 per cent).

Compared with Q2 2024, 13 member states saw an increase in their debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of Q3 2024, and 14 registered a decrease.

The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Bulgaria (plus 2.4 percentage points [pp]), Romania (plus 2 pp), Finland and France (both plus 1.4 pp), Latvia (plus 1.3 pp), Poland (plus 1.2 pp) and Czechia and Lithuania (both plus 1 pp).

The largest decreases were recorded in Portugal (minus 3.2 pp), Slovenia (minus 2.6 pp), Greece (minus 1.8 pp), Malta and the Netherlands (minus 1.1 pp), as well as Spain (minus 1 pp).

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)