Eurostat data shows the highest public debt-to-GDP ratios among EU member states were recorded in Greece (161.9%), Italy (137.3%), France (110.6%), Spain (107.7%) and Belgium by the end of 2023, Novinite reports.
However, the ratio of public debt to GDP falls below 30 per cent only in Estonia (19.6 per cent), Bulgaria (23.1 per cent), Luxembourg (25.7 per cent) and Denmark (29.3 per cent). Ten EU countries have seen an increase in this indicator, while 17 others have seen a decrease.
Bulgaria was the leader in terms of percentage points, increasing by 2.1 per cent. It is followed by Latvia (up 1.6 percentage points), Finland (up 1.5 pp), Estonia (up 1.4 pp), Sweden (up 1.2 pp) and Poland (up 1 pp).
The most notable decreases are observed in Portugal (down 8.4 pp), Greece (down 3.7 pp), Slovenia (down 2.6 pp), Belgium (down 2.4 pp), Slovakia (down 3.7 pp), Slovenia (down 2.6 pp), Slovakia (down 2.3 pp), Spain (down 2.1 pp), Cyprus (down 1.7 pp), Hungary (down 1.5 pp) and France (down 1.4 pp). While some countries saw an alarming rise in their debt-to-GDP ratios, others saw significant declines.
Finland led the way in terms of year-on-year growth with a notable increase of 2.3%, followed by Latvia, Romania, Estonia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland and Lithuania.
On the other hand, Portugal led the downward trend with a staggering drop of 13.3 per cent, followed by Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy and Germany.
Bulgaria’s debt will rise to 42.383 billion leva by the end of 2023 from 37.851 billion leva in the previous year. This represents 23.1 per cent of GDP, up from 21 per cent a quarter earlier and 22.6 per cent at the end of 2022.
In absolute figures, France has the highest debt in the EU with 3.1 trillion euros, followed by Italy with 2.8 trillion euros, Germany with 2.6 trillion euros, Sweden with 1.9 trillion euros, Poland with 1.69 trillion euros, Spain with 1.57 trillion euros and others.
