Government debt down to 91.2% of GDP in euro area

At the end of the first quarter of 2023, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA20) stood at 91.2%, compared with 91.4% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. In the EU, the ratio also decreased from 83.8% to 83.7%. For both the euro area and the EU, the slight decrease in government debt to GDP ratio is due to an increase in GDP outweighing the increase in government debt in absolute terms. Compared with the first quarter of 2022, the government debt to GDP ratio also decreased in both the euro area (from 95.0% to 91.2%) and the EU (from 87.4% to 83.7%).