ZAGREB, January 21, 2019 – The government debt to GDP ratio fell in the European Union in the third quarter of 2018, and Croatia was among the countries with the largest decreases both month on month and year on year, according to data from the EU statistical office Eurostat released on Monday.
“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%),” Eurostat said.
In Croatia, government debt at the end of the third quarter of 2018 stood at 281.8 billion kuna, or 74.5% of GDP, down by 1.6 percentage points from the previous quarter and 4 percentage points lower than at the same time in 2017.
The highest government debt to GDP ratios 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), Eurostat said.
More news on the Croatian economy can be found in the Business section.
