Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

ESTAT Unit D1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS

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'Quarterly government debt' is defined as the total gross debt at nominal value outstanding at the end of each quarter for the general government sector (ref. Regulation  (EU) No 549/2013, Annex B transmission programme, definition of general government sector ESA 2010 §2.111). 

Data are measured in million Euro, million of national currency units, percentage of GDP and percentage of total consolidated debt.

Data cover EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.

Quarterly data on government debt is provided according to the provisions of the European System of Accounts ESA 2010 (Regulation (EU) No 549/2013).

Data is transmitted by national authorities (National Statistical Institutes, National Central Banks or Ministries of Finance).

ESA2010 standards are used as regards the coverage of financial instruments. Quarterly general government gross debt follows the definition of Maastricht debt as regards valuation - data is at face value.

Data covers the general government sector as defined in ESA 2010, §2.111, as well as its subsectors: central government, state government (where applicable), local government and social security funds (where applicable). For a definition of the subsectors of general government, please refer to ESA2010, §2.112.

General government debt is one of the convergence criteria of the Maastricht Treaty used for monitoring the economic situation of a Member State. The Maastricht debt is defined as the debt at the end of the year. In order to follow the latest trends, Member States are required to provide debt data on a quarterly basis.

'Quarterly government debt' is defined as the total gross debt at face value outstanding at the end of each quarter for the general government sector and its subesctors.

Member States provide a breakdown of the general government debt using ESA 2010 definitions:

• by instrument; The main instruments are: currency and deposits (AF.2) with further breakdowns into currency (AF.21) and deposits (AF.22, AF.29), debt securities (AF.3) with a breakdown into short-term (AF.31) and long-term (AF.32) debt securities, and loans (AF.4) with a breakdown into short-term loans (AF.41) and long-term loans (AF.42),
• by government sector: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313), social security funds (S.1314).

The tables contain debt figures expressed in national currency, converted into euro, and as a percentage of the GDP and of the total consolidated debt for the Member State.

Some countries provide additional data such as the currency denomination of general government gross debt (domestic/foreign), a split between domestic and non-resident creditors and a breakdown by remaining maturity. 

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EU and euro area aggregates, EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.

The Regulation applies to EEA countries. 

Data starts from the first quarter of 2000, however the lengths of series vary according to country and instrument.

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Data is measured in million Euro, million of national currency units and in percentage of GDP and of total consolidated debt.

For euro area countries, for reference periods prior to accession of the country to the euro area, data in national currency are expressed in euro-fixed, that is the former national currency divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.

The quarterly general government debt refers to the debt at the end of each quarter. For non euro area Member States, the debt expressed in euro is converted using the exchange rate at the last working day of the quarter.

National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA2010) adopted in the form of a EU Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, dated 21 May 2013.

Quarterly government debt data is compiled with reference to the ESA2010 Regulation.

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Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

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The Eurostat release calendar is available at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/release-calendar. The database is updated according to this release calendar. In general, data are released at around t+113 days after the end of the quarter. Revised data received from countries is also processed between the main release dates.

The access to the release calendar is public.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Quarterly

A quarterly news release on general government debt is available at  

Euro indicators - Eurostat (europa.eu)

This is complemented by articles on Statistics Explained and the quarterly summary GFS tables as available on Statistics Explained and the dedicated section on the Eurostat website.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Government_finance_statistics_-_quarterly_data

Please consult free data online.

Please consult free data online.

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http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

The ESA2010 methodology is referred to EU Regulation No 549/2013.

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A compliance monitoring has been carried out during 2012, with good results.

Moreover, quarterly government debt has been the subject of an internal Eurostat rolling review, with very good results.

Timeliness and punctuality of the data are very good. Moreover, data are comparable and consistent for all European Union countries due to the use of ESA2010 concepts.

Data are in general entirely consistent with data notified under the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

Internal consistency and plausibility as well as consistency with other datasets such as quarterly financial accounts for general government and EDP data is verified prior to validation.

Due to consistency with EDP data, quarterly government debt can be considered to benefit from the additional verification and quality assurance processes in place for EDP data.

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All data required by the regulation is provided to Eurostat.

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Data is transmitted by Member States to Eurostat within three months after the end of the quarter to which it refers to.

All countries send data by the deadline of t+3 months after the end of reference quarter.

Data are fully comparable across countries.

Data are fully comparable along time.

National data may be available from official national sources as well.

Full coherence.

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Major changes in methodology may occur as a result of EU legislation or Eurostat decisions (following a consultation procedure with Member States), and announced in the Official Journal of the European Union or on Eurostat website.

Revisions may be done with each new data transmission every quarter.

Data are transmitted by national statistical authorities (National Statistical Institutes, National Central Banks or Ministries of Finance). The type of survey used is a census.

The countries provide a breakdown of the general government debt using ESA2010 definitions:

• by instrument: currency and deposits (AF.2, currency AF.21, deposits AF.22, AF.29), debt securities (AF.3, short-term AF.31, long-term AF.32) and loans (AF.4, short-term AF.41, long-term AF.42),
• by general government sector: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313) and social security funds (S.1314).

The tables contain debt figures expressed in national currency, converted into euro, and as a percentage of the GDP and of the total consolidated debt for the Member State.

Quarterly

The collection of the data is carried out with the use of the relevant reporting table of the ESA2010 transmission programme (Table 2800  - Quarterly government debt) and an additional questionaire (Table 2899 - Intergovernmental lending), completed by national statistical authorities.

Once data is compiled by national statistical authorities, it is transmitted in the reporting format via eDAMIS to Eurostat.

The consistency of aggregated data with its subcomponents is verified and validated before publication. Debt at the end of the fourth quarter of each year is validated against annual data provided for the EU excessive deficit procedure. Additional verifications are undertaken for consolidation, general plausibility as well as comparison with other data sets. Annual Excessive Deficit Procedure data, next to be published in April 2023, are the subject of a thorough verification by Eurostat.

The data represents stock of quarterly government debt (and its components currency and deposits, debt securities and loans) at face value outstanding at the end of the quarter.

For EU and euro area aggregates, the quarterly debt for each Member States is converted into Euro using the exchange rates at the end of the quarter. For flow data, such as GDP, average exchange rates are used. The EU aggregates, denominated in euro, can fluctuate as a result of exchange rate movements between the euro and other EU currencies.

For Croatia, which joined the euro area from 1 January 2023, the euro-fixed for periods up to the fourth quarter of 2022 is used, i.e. HRK divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.

Due to the involvement of EU Member States' governments in lending to certain Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published. 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 euro area and EU debt starting from the first quarter of 2009. 

The valuation basis is the stock of loans at nominal value outstanding at end of each quarter. From the first quarter of 2011 onwards, the bilateral 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://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=2-27012011-AP&mode=view&language=en).

Data is not adjusted.

Since the first quarter of 2020, Member States have implemented COVID-19 containment measures. The policy measures with the largest impact on the government accounts in 2022 were related to expenditure measures to support employment and businesses. Additionally, in quarters of 2022, a number of Member States took measures to alleviate the impact of increasing energy prices. Country specific explanatory metadata are published below.

Further harmonisation is expected as regards recording practices for the liquidity and expenditure measures introduced as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the quarterly impact of accruals of deferred taxes as well as for measures to alleviate the impact of increasing energy prices. Revisions in the coming quarters are thus expected to be larger than usual. Data for the first three quarters of 2022 are provisional.

Country specific metadata is available in the metadata file for quarterly non-financial accounts for general government.

Additional information is also available in the latest news releases on EDP, quarterly deficit and quarterly debt. 

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION / ACCESSION OF CROATIA TO THE EURO AREA: Up to 31 December 2022, the euro area (EA19) included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. From 1 January 2023 the euro area (EA20) also includes Croatia. The aggregate data series commented on in these publications refer to the official composition of the euro area in the most recent quarter for which data is available. Thus, news releases and other publications with data for quarters up to the fourth quarter of 2022 comment on EA19 series, while releases with data for the first quarter of 2023 onwards will comment on EA20 series. On the Eurostat public database, both EA19 and EA20 are published. Croatian data in million of national currency refers to euro-fixed for periods up to the fourth quarter of 2022, i.e. HRK divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.

Ireland: In 2014 the sector classification of the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) was reviewed as part of ESA2010 implementation. As it did not meet the institutional unit criteria it was reclassified from S.1314 to S.1311. Subsequently, as only one other Member State did not present S.1314, Ireland was requested by Eurostat in the 2019 Excessive Deficit Procedure Dialogue Visit to reflect on reporting the SIF in S.1314 in order to harmonise practices with other Member States. The CSO is in agreement with Eurostat that presenting the S.1314 subsector would facilitate harmonisation and comparability with other Member States. With the September 2021 EDP transmission, and corresponding quarterly GFS reporting, Ireland has implemented the subsector with a time series beginning in Q1 2017. This change has no impact on the aggregate data rather S.1311 is reduced by the amounts now shown in S.1314.

Greece: 2000-2005: The revised fiscal data for the years 1995-2005 have been compiled by EL.STAT in fulfilment of the obligation imposed by Regulation ESA 2010 (549/2013) and with the support of Eurostat. Eurostat is releasing 1995-2005 data in line with the Code of Practice and in recognition of the large progresses made. In addition to the ESA2010 changes, EL.STAT has undertaken a comprehensive review of the ESA95 recording by the inclusion of new information due to updated administrative data sources and by correcting a number of outstanding issues identified in the past. Some further revisions may occur due to an ongoing remaining review of some specific issues.

Finland: An exceptional revision with some breaks in time series (marked in the public database) was implemented in respect of the rerouting of ARA loans. Information can be found here: https://stat.fi/en/revisionrelease/cl4wd9qcoqezr0bvwlrq28hxt.

The debt to GDP ratio is calculated for each quarter using the sum of quarterly GDP for the four last quarters. Quarterly data on GDP are the most recent transmitted ones by the EU Member States. While quarterly debt figures are consistent with annual debt figures at coinciding publications, differences between quarterly and annual data occur at non-coinciding publications. Differences between annual and quarterly GDP figures also occur.