At the end of the third quarter of 2013, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA17) stood at 92.7%, compared with 93.4% at the end of the second quarter of 2013, the first fall in absolute terms since the fourth quarter of 2007. In the EU28 the ratio increased from 86.7% to 86.8%, mainly due to exchange rate effects. Compared with the third quarter of 2012, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 90.0% to 92.7%) and the EU28 (from 84.9% to 86.8%).

At the end of the third quarter of 2013, securities other than shares accounted for 79.3% of euro area government debt, loans for 17.9% and currency and deposits for 2.7%. EU28 government debt was made up of 80.9% securities other than shares, 15.5% loans and 3.6% currency and deposits.

Due to the involvement of EU governments in financial assistance to some Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) is also published. The share of IGL in GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2013 amounted to 2.4% for the euro area and to 1.8% for the EU28.

Government debt at the end of the third quarter 2013 by Member State

The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2013 were recorded in Greece (171.8%), Italy (132.9%), Portugal (128.7%) and Ireland (124.8%), and the lowest in Estonia (10.0%), Bulgaria (17.3%) and Luxembourg (27.7%).

Compared with the second quarter of 2013, ten Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2013, seventeen a decrease and Slovenia no change. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Cyprus (+11.0 percentage points – pp), Luxembourg (+4.6 pp) and Greece (+3.0 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Portugal (-2.6 pp), Finland (-2.5 pp), Belgium (-1.5 pp), Germany (-1.4 pp) and Hungary (-1.3 pp).

Compared with the third quarter of 2012, twenty-three Member States registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2013, and five a decrease. The highest increases in the ratio were recorded in Cyprus (+25.3 pp), Greece (+19.9 pp), Spain (+14.3 pp) and Slovenia (+14.1 pp), while decreases were recorded in Germany (-2.8 pp), Latvia (-2.0 pp), Bulgaria (-1.4 pp), Denmark (-0.9 pp) and Lithuania (-0.8 pp).