Estonia had the lowest government debt measured as a ratio to gross domestic product (GDP) in the European Union last year, standing at 10.1 percent of GDP as of year-end, Eurostat said on Monday.
Estonia had EU's lowest government debt last year
22nd April 2013, 17:05
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The next smallest ratios were those of Bulgaria, 18.5 percent, Luxembourg, 20.8 percent, Romania, 37.8 percent, Sweden, 38.2 percent, and Latvia and Lithuania, both 40.7 percent.
Estonia also had the lowest government deficit in percentage of GDP, measuring 0.3 percent of GDP and putting the country second only to Germany, which had a government surplus of 0.2 percent. Sweden had a deficit of 0.5 percent, Bulgaria and Luxembourg both of 0.8 percent, and Latvia 1.2 percent. The ratio for Lithuania was 3.2 percent.
In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 4.2 percent in 2011 to 3.7 percent in 2012, and in the EU27 from 4.4 percent to 4.0 percent. The government debt to GDP ratio increased from 87.3 percent at the end of 2011 to 90.6 percent at the end of 2012 in the euros area and from 82.5 percent to 85.3 percent in the EU27.
Fourteen member states had government debt ratios higher than 60 percent of GDP: Greece, 156.9 percent, Italy, 127.0 percent, Portugal, 123.6 percent, Ireland, 117.6 percent, Belgium, 99.6 percent, France, 90.2 percent, the United Kingdom, 90.0 percent, Cyprus, 85.8 percent, Spain, 84.2 percent, Germany, percent 81.9, Hungary, 79.2 percent, Austria, 73.4 percent, Malta, 72.1 percent, and the Netherlands, 71.2 percent.