BRUSSELS – Cyprus has recorded the highest annual increase in government debt to GDP ratio among the countries of the European Union, according to data released in the Belgian capital on Wednesday.
The data by Eurostat also shows that the public debt of Cyprus increased by 1.3 percentage points of GDP in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the second quarter of the same year. In Greece the increase was around 3.4 pp.
At the end of the third quarter of 2012, public debt of Cyprus was 15.042 billion euros or 84.0% of GDP. In the second quarter the debt was 14.823 billion euros or 82.8% of GDP.
At the end of the third quarter of 2012, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA17) stood at 90.0%, compared with 89.9% at the end of the second quarter of 2012. In the EU27 the ratio was 85.1%,compared with 85.0%.
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the third quarter of 2012 were recorded in Greece(152.6%), Italy (127.3%), Portugal (120.3%) and Ireland (117.0%), and the lowest in Estonia (9.6%), Bulgaria (18.7%) and Luxembourg (20.9%).
Compared with the third quarter of 2011, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 86.8% to 90.0%) and the EU27 (from 81.5% to 85.1%).