STAT/12/111
23 July 2012
First quarter 2012 compared with fourth quarter 2011
Euro area government debt up to 88.2% of GDP
EU27 up to 83.4%
At the end of the first quarter of 2012, the government debt1 to GDP ratio2 in the euro area3 (EA17) stood at 88.2%, compared with 87.3% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. In the EU273 the ratio increased from 82.5% to 83.4%. Compared with the first quarter of 2011, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 86.2% to 88.2%) and the EU27 (from 80.4% to 83.4%).
At the end of the first quarter of 2012, securities other than shares accounted for 78.3% of euro area and 79.3% of EU27 general government debt. Loans made up 17.8% of euro area and 15.6% of EU27 government debt. Currency and deposits represented 2.8% of euro area and 3.8% of EU27 government debt.
Due to the involvement of EU governments in financial assistance to certain Member States, and in order to obtain a more complete picture of the evolution of government debt, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL)4 is also published. The share of IGL in GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2012 is similar for both the euro area and the EU27, amounting to 1.2% and 0.9% of GDP respectively.
These data are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
2011Q1 | 2011Q4 | 2012Q1 | ||||||||||
EA17 | ||||||||||||
Government debt | (million euro) | 7 973 440 | 8 217 338 | 8 328 564 | ||||||||
(% of GDP) | 86.2 | 87.3 | 88.2 | |||||||||
Of which: Currency and deposits | (million euro) | 223 225 | 225 545 | 234 677 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.8 | |||||||||
Securities other than shares | (million euro) | 6 352 171 | 6 539 495 | 6 607 728 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 79.2 | 78.9 | 78.3 | |||||||||
Loans | (million euro) | 1 398 049 | 1 452 299 | 1 486 158 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 17.5 | 17.7 | 17.8 | |||||||||
Memo: Intergovernmental lending in the context of the financial crisis |
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EU27 | ||||||||||||
Government debt5 | (million euro) | 9 971 729 | 10 423 705 | 10 592 499 | ||||||||
(% of GDP) | 80.4 | 82.5 | 83.4 | |||||||||
Of which: Currency and deposits | (million euro) | 369 614 | 394 133 | 407 188 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 | |||||||||
Securities other than shares | (million euro) | 7 985 347 | 8 358 697 | 8 483 482 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 79.7 | 79.7 | 79.3 | |||||||||
Loans | (million euro) | 1 556 916 | 1 620 249 | 1 650 192 | ||||||||
(% of total debt) | 15.6 | 15.5 | 15.6 | |||||||||
Memo: Intergovernmental lending in the context of the financial crisis |
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Government debt at the end of the first quarter 2012 by Member State
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the first quarter of 2012 were recorded in Greece (132.4%), Italy (123.3%), Portugal (111.7%) and Ireland (108.5%), and the lowest in Estonia (6.6%), Bulgaria (16.7%) and Luxembourg (20.9%).
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2011, twenty-one Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2012, and six a decrease. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Lithuania (+4.0 percentage points - pp), Portugal (+3.8 pp), Spain (+3.7 pp) and Belgium (+3.6 pp), and the largest decreases in Greece6 (-33.0 pp), Hungary (-1.8 pp) and Denmark (-1.5 pp). It should be noted that the change in debt ratio between two successive quarters can be influenced in some cases by seasonal patterns.
Compared with the first quarter of 2011, twenty-three Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2012, and four a decrease. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Portugal (+17.2 pp), Cyprus (+11.0 pp) and Ireland (+8.2 pp), and the largest decreases in Greece6 (-20.0 pp) and Hungary (-4.1 pp).
Quarterly data on government debt are collected from the Member States according to Council Regulation (EC) No 1222/2004 and refer to the Maastricht debt definition. The general government debt is defined as the consolidated gross debt of the whole of the general government sector outstanding at the end of the quarter (at nominal value). General government debt consists of liabilities of general government in the following categories: currency and deposits (AF.2); securities other than shares, excluding financial derivatives (AF.33) and loans (AF.4), as defined in ESA95.
Quarterly data on government debt by Member State are published in the Eurostat database:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/government_finance_statistics/data/database.
The debt to GDP ratio is calculated for each quarter using the sum of GDP for the four last quarters. Data on GDP are the most recent transmitted by the EU Member States.
The euro area (EA17) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).
For the purpose of proper consolidation of general government debt and to provide users with information, Eurostat publishes data on government loans to other EU governments and these loans have been deducted from EA17 and EU27 debt. The concepts and definitions are based on the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA 95 - Council Regulation No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996) and on the rules relating to the statistics for the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). The data covered is stocks of loans related to claims on other EU Member States. The valuation basis is the stock of loans at nominal value outstanding at end of each quarter. For the first quarter of 2011 onwards, the intergovernmental lending figures relate mainly to lending to Greece, Ireland and Portugal and include loans made by the European Financial Stability Facility (see Eurostat decision regarding EFSF
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-27012011-AP/EN/2-27012011-AP-EN.PDF).
The sum of debt components for the EU27 is not equal to total government debt, due to the amendments for the United Kingdom being applied only for total debt. See News Release 62/2012 of 23 April 2012 for details.
The decrease in the Greek government debt is mainly due to exchange of bonds in the context of the PSI (Private Sector Involvement).
Further data are available in the integrated publication on quarterly government finance statistics:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/government_finance_statistics/data
Issued by: Eurostat Press Office Tim ALLEN Tel: +352-4301-33 444 eurostat.pressoffice@ec.europa.eu Eurostat news releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat | For further information on data: Iulia Adriana STANISLAV EMINESCU Tel: +352-4301-32 988 iulia-adriana.stanislav-eminescu@ec.europa.eu Irena TVARIJONAVICIUTE Tel: +352-4301-39 491 |
Selected Principal European Economic Indicators: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euroindicators
Government debt by Member State
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Belgium | euro | 357 462 | 361 735 | 377 314 | 99.4 | 98.2 | 101.8 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 89.0 | 12.5 | 1.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgaria | BGN | 11 202 | 12 293 | 12 540 | 15.5 | 16.3 | 16.7 | 1.3 | 0.4 | - | 10.2 | 6.6 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech Republic | CZK | 1 480 037 | 1 567 799 | 1 677 207 | 39.1 | 41.2 | 43.9 | 4.8 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 39.3 | 4.6 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Denmark | DKK | 797 063 | 831 147 | 806 886 | 45.0 | 46.6 | 45.1 | 0.1 | -1.5 | 0.8 | 37.2 | 7.1 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Germany | euro | 2 057 304 | 2 088 472 | 2 111 985 | 82.0 | 81.2 | 81.6 | -0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 57.4 | 23.7 | 1.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Estonia | euro | 960 | 965 | 1 069 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | - | 1.6 | 5.0 | 0.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ireland | euro | 155 960 | 169 251 | 174 252 | 100.3 | 106.5 | 108.5 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 9.8 | 51.8 | 46.9 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greece | euro | 341 145 | 355 616 | 280 427 | 152.4 | 165.3 | 132.4 | -20.0 | -33.0 | 0.4 | 65.2 | 66.8 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain | euro | 684 117 | 734 961 | 774 549 | 64.7 | 68.5 | 72.1 | 7.4 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 59.7 | 12.2 | 1.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
France | euro | 1 649 835 | 1 716 964 | 1 789 393 | 84.3 | 86.0 | 89.2 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 76.7 | 10.9 | 1.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italy | euro | 1 866 634 | 1 897 875 | 1 946 212 | 119.5 | 120.1 | 123.3 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 10.1 | 103.7 | 9.4 | 1.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cyprus | euro | 11 103 | 12 720 | 13 228 | 63.6 | 71.6 | 74.6 | 11.0 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 42.1 | 32.5 | 1.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Latvia | LVL | 5 681 | 6 028 | 6 466 | 43.9 | 42.6 | 44.6 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 14.0 | 28.5 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lithuania | LTL | 38 079 | 40 949 | 46 081 | 39.2 | 38.6 | 42.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 0.1 | 35.0 | 7.6 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Luxembourg | euro | 7 798 | 7 786 | 8 997 | 19.0 | 18.2 | 20.9 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 11.6 | 8.8 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungary | HUF | 22 477 731 | 22 692 816 | 22 398 935 | 83.1 | 80.8 | 79.0 | -4.1 | -1.8 | 0.1 | 58.4 | 20.5 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malta | euro | 4 400 | 4 600 | 4 831 | 70.5 | 71.6 | 75.0 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 69.7 | 4.6 | 1.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Netherlands | euro | 375 815 | 394 193 | 402 084 | 63.2 | 65.5 | 66.8 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 52.2 | 14.4 | 1.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Austria | euro | 210 755 | 217 399 | 222 562 | 72.4 | 72.4 | 73.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 60.1 | 13.3 | 1.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Poland | PLN | 807 500 | 858 968 | 867 413 | 56.0 | 56.3 | 56.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 0.0 | 47.2 | 9.0 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portugal | euro | 163 356 | 184 291 | 189 979 | 94.5 | 107.8 | 111.7 | 17.2 | 3.8 | 5.6 | 69.2 | 36.8 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Romania | RON | 164 086 | 192 851 | 211 326 | 30.8 | 33.3 | 36.3 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 22.3 | 13.3 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Slovenia | euro | 16 580 | 16 954 | 17 030 | 46.5 | 47.6 | 47.7 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 41.1 | 6.4 | 1.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Slovakia | euro | 28 195 | 29 911 | 32 358 | 42.4 | 43.3 | 46.4 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 0.1 | 41.8 | 4.5 | 0.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finland | euro | 84 799 | 93 053 | 93 320 | 46.5 | 49.1 | 48.7 | 2.2 | -0.4 | 0.3 | 39.5 | 9.0 | 1.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sweden | SEK | 1 268 272 | 1 341 410 | 1 310 490 | 37.5 | 38.4 | 37.2 | -0.2 | -1.2 | 1.9 | 28.0 | 7.3 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
United Kingdom** | GBP | 1 182 933 | 1 292 655 | 1 316 231 | 79.8 | 85.3 | 86.4 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 8.8 | 73.1 | 1.7 | 0.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Securities other than shares, excluding financial derivatives.
** Data amended by Eurostat. See News Release 62/2012 of 23 April 2012 for details.
