Government debt down to 94.2% of GDP in euro area in second quarter of 2022

Government debt down to 94.2% of GDP in euro area in second quarter of 2022, according to the last figures released by Eurostat.

At the end of the second quarter of 2022, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 94.2%, compared with 95.2% at the end of the first quarter of 2022.

In the EU, the ratio also decreased from 87.5% to 86.4%. For both the euro area and the EU, the 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 second quarter of 2021, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased more strongly in both the euro area (from 97.9% to 94.2%) and the EU (from 90.5% to 86.4%).

Rebound in GDP

The decreases are due to the rebound in GDP, while debt in absolute terms continued to increase.

At the end of the second quarter of 2022, debt securities accounted for 82.7% of euro area and for 82.2% of EU general government debt.

Loans made up 14.1% and 14.7% respectively and currency and deposits represented 3.1% of both euro area and EU government debt. Due to the involvement of EU Member States’ governments in financial assistance to certain Member States, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published.

The share of IGL as percentage of GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2022 accounted for 1.7% in the euro area and for 1.5% in the EU.