ZAGREB, 22 April (2022) - The government debt to GDP ratios in the EU and the euro area decreased in the fourth quarter of 2021 thanks to the recovery of the economy from the coronavirus crisis, and Croatia was among the countries with the largest decreases, according to a report released by Eurostat on Friday.

In the EU, the government debt to GDP ratio stood at 88.1% at the end of 2021, compared to 89.9% at the end of September. In the euro area, the ratio was 95.6%, down by 1.9 percentage points from the previous quarter.

At the end of 2020, the government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 90.0% in the EU and at 97.2% in the euro area.

Among member states, the highest government debt to GDP ratios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 were recorded in Greece (193.3%), Italy (150.8%), Portugal (127.4%), Spain (118.4%), France (112.9%), Belgium (108.2%) and Cyprus (103.6%), and the lowest in Estonia (18.1%), Luxembourg (24.4%) and Bulgaria (25.1%).

In Croatia, consolidated general government debt amounted to HRK 343.6 billion at the end of 2021, which was 79.8% of GDP. At the end of September 2021, it was HRK 345.3 billion, or 82.7% of GDP, while at the end of 2020, it was HRK 330.4 billion, or 87.3% of GDP.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, seven member states registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 and twenty member states a decrease.

Increases in the ratio were recorded in Czechia (+4.2 pp), Malta (+3.6 pp), Slovakia (+3.3 pp), Romania (+1.6 pp), Latvia (+1.5 pp), Germany (+0.6 pp) and Bulgaria (+0.4 pp), while the largest decreases were observed in Greece (-13.1 pp), Cyprus (-11.4 pp), Portugal (-7.8 pp), Croatia (-7.5 pp), Denmark (-5.4 pp) and Slovenia (-5.1 pp).

Compared with the third quarter of 2021, seven member states registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, nineteen a decrease, while the ratio remained stable in Germany.

Increases in the ratio were observed in Slovakia (+1.8 percentage points – pp), Czechia (+1.5 pp), Latvia (+1.3 pp), Bulgaria (+0.9 pp), Romania (+0.6 pp), Malta (+0.4 pp) and Sweden (+0.3 pp), while the largest decreases were recorded in Greece (-8.3 pp), Cyprus (-5.4 pp), Slovenia (-5.0 pp) and Italy (-3.8 pp)

In Croatia, the government debt to GDP ratio at the end of 2021 was 2.9 percentage points lower than at the end of September 2021.

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