The general government gross debt to GDP ratio in Cyprus stood at the end of the second quarter of 2024, at 70.5% in Cyprus, compared to 88.1% in the eurozone and 81.5% in the EU, according to data released on Tuesdayy by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Cyprus had the largest decrease in its government debt to GDP ratio compared both to the first quarter of 2024 (-2.1 percentage points) and the second quarter of 2023 (-10.0 pp).

At the eurozone level, the debt to GDP ratio increased to 88.1% at the end of the second quarter of 2024, compared with 87.8% at the end of the first quarter of 2024. In the EU, the ratio also increased from 81.3% to 81.5%.

Compared with the second quarter of 2023, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased in both the euro area (from 88.8% to 88.1%) and the EU (from 81.9% to 81.5%).

At the end of the second quarter of 2024, the general government debt was made up of 84.0% debt securities in the euro area and 83.6% in the EU, 13.4% loans in the euro area and 13.9% in the EU and 2.5% currency and deposits both in the euro area and in the EU.

Due to the involvement of EU member states' governments in lending to certain member states, quarterly data on intergovernmental lending (IGL) are also published. The IGL as percentage of GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2024 stood at 1.5% in the euro area and at 1.3% in the EU.

Among member states, the highest ratios of government debt to GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2024 were recorded in Greece (163.6%), Italy (137.0%), France (112.2%), Belgium (108.0%), Spain (105.3%), and Portugal (100.6%), and the lowest were recorded in Bulgaria (22.1%), Estonia (23.8%) and Luxembourg (26.8%).

Compared with the first quarter of 2024, nine member states registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2024, seventeen a decrease, and the ratio remained stable in Denmark.

The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Finland (+2.0 percentage points – pp), Austria and Italy (both +1.8 pp), France (+1.6 pp), Portugal (+1.2 pp), Poland (+0.9 pp) and Sweden (+0.6 pp).

The largest decreases were recorded in Cyprus (-2.1 pp), Croatia (-2.0 pp), Greece (-1.8 pp), Lithuania (-1.7 pp), Spain (-0.9 pp), Czechia (-0.8 pp), the Netherlands and Germany (-0.7 pp), and Romania (-0.6 pp).

Compared with the second quarter of 2023, thirteen member states registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2024, thirteen member states registered a decrease, while the ratio remained stable in the Czech Republic.

The largest increases in the ratio were recorded in Finland (+5.2 pp), Estonia (+4.7 pp), Latvia and Poland (both +4.1 pp), Austria (+3.1 pp), Belgium (+2.3 pp), Romania (+2.2 pp), and Slovakia (+1.0 pp).

The largest decreases were observed in Cyprus (-10.0 pp), Greece (-8.9 pp), Portugal (-8.1 pp), Croatia (-5.7 pp), Spain (-3.5 pp), the Netherlands (-2.2 pp), Germany (-1.7 pp), and Luxembourg (-1.3 pp).