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3rd Quarter 2021: Government debt down to 97.7% of GDP in euro area; down to 90.1% of GDP in EU

According to data released on 21 January by Eurostat, the EU statistical office, at the end of the third quarter of 2021, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 97.7%, compared with 98.3% at the end of the second quarter of 2021.

Graph showing government debt down to 97.7% of GDP in Q3 2021, ©European Union
European Union

date:  27/01/2022

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In the EU, the ratio also decreased from 90.9% to 90.1%. Both for the euro area and the EU, the decrease in the government debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter was due to an increase in GDP, while debt continued to increase due to financing of measures adopted to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Compared with the third quarter of 2020, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 96.6% to 97.7%) and the EU (from 89.2% to 90.1%). The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2021 were recorded in Greece (200.7%), Italy (155.3%), Portugal (130.5%), Spain (121.8%), France (116.0%), Belgium (111.4%) and Cyprus (109.6%), and the lowest in Estonia (19.6%), Bulgaria (24.2%) and Luxembourg (25.3%).