April the 26th, 2022 - Croatian public debt is continuing to fall, so much so that this decrease has placed the country at the very top of the list of European Union (EU) member states.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the public debt across the European Union and within the Eurozone itself, expressed as a share of GDP, decreased in the fourth quarter of 2021 thanks to the recovery of the economy following the coronavirus crisis, and the Republic of Croatia is among the countries with the biggest decline, a Eurostat report showed last week. At the EU level, public debt as a share of GDP stood at 88.1 percent at the end of 2021.

When it comes to Croatian public debt, consolidated general government debt amounted to 343.6 billion kuna back at the end of December, which corresponded to 79.8 percent of the nation's overall GDP.

Back at the end of September 2021, Croatian public debt amounted to 345.3 billion kuna, which corresponded to 82.7 percent of domestic GDP. At the end of pandemic-dominated 2020, it amounted to 330.4 billion kuna, which corresponded to 87.3 percent of GDP. When it comes to other EU member states, Estonia had the lowest level of public debt at the end of last year, standing at a mere 18.1 percent.

In most European Union countries, public debt as a share of GDP was lower at the end of last year than it was back at the end of 2020, the first year of the global coronavirus pandemic, thanks to a recovery in the economy that was spurred by the easing of epidemiological measures in many countries.

Compared to the end of 2020, public debt decreased the most in Greece and Cyprus, by 13.1 and 11.4 percentage points, respectively. Those countries are followed by Portugal and Croatia, whose public debt as a share of GDP in the fourth quarter was lower by 7.8 and 7.5 percentage points, respectively.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 21 Jan 2022 - At the end of the third quarter of 2021 the public debt to GDP ratio in the EU and euro area decreased, reflecting an accelerated economic recovery from the corona crisis, and Croatia was among the most successful in lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio, according to the data provided by Eurostat on Friday.

Economic activity in the EU and the euro area picked up strongly last summer thanks to intensive vaccination rollout programs coupled with the relaxation of anti-epidemic measures.

Governments stepped up borrowing to finance support measures for enterprises and households and accelerated economic recovery resulted in a lower debt to GDP ratio.

In the end of the third quarter of 2021, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased to 90.1% from 90.9% in the preceding quarter and to 97.7% in the euro area from 98.3%.

Compared with the third quarter of 2020, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area by 1.1 percentage points and 0.9 percentage points in the whole EU.

Croatia alongside Austria and Hungary

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%).

The consolidated government debt in Croatia at the end of September 2021 amounted to HRK 344.7 billion, which was an 82.4% share of GDP. At the end of June, it was HRK 340.8 billion or 86.1% of GDP.

At the end of September 2020, Croatia's government debt to HRK 326 billion or 84.7% of GDP.

The closest results to Croatia were registered in Hungary and Austria with ratios of 80.3% and 84.1% of GDP respectively.

The lowest government debt to GDP ratios was registered in Estonia (19.6%), Bulgaria (24.2%), and Luxembourg (25.3%), Eurostat reported.

At the end of the third quarter of 2021, the largest decreases in government debt to GDP ratio compared to the previous quarter were recorded in Greece (-6.6 pp), Portugal (-4.9 pp), Croatia (-3.7 pp), Cyprus, and Belgium (both -2.3 pp), Czechia (-2.2 pp), and Austria (-2.1 pp).

The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Hungary (+2.9 percentage points – pp), France (+1.5 pp), and Romania (+1.1 pp).

Croatia was among those countries with the greatest decrease in government debt to GDP compared to September 2020 (-2.3 pp).

The largest decreases compared to September 2020  were observed in Cyprus (-6.4 pp), Ireland (-3.6 pp), the Netherlands (-2.5 pp), Denmark (-2.4 pp), Croatia (-2.3 pp), and Sweden (-2.2 pp).

The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Spain (+7.8 pp), Hungary (+6.5 pp), Malta (+5.7 pp), Austria (+5.6 pp), and Romania (+5.5 pp), Eurostat reported.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.