Eurozone debt continues to climb

In the first three months of 2024, the Eurozone’s debt increased as France battled to stabilize its finances following weeks of political unrest. The EU statistics agency, Eurostat, reported that the 20 nations in the currency area had debt of 88.7% of GDP, up from 88.2% in the prior quarter.

The slightly better news is that in the first quarter, the Eurozone’s deficit—that is, the difference between government revenue and expenditure—dropped from 4% to 3.2 percent of GDP.

With President Emmanuel Macron’s decision of early elections causing political unrest and a ratings fall, France’s debt condition is being keenly monitored. This quarter, the country’s debt increased by 0.9 percentage points of GDP over the previous quarter.

With total debt equal to about 160% of GDP, Greece is the most indebted nation in the Eurozone. With a 2.1 percentage point drop from the fourth quarter of 2023, it is also the nation that is repaying the debt the quickest.

With a 3.1 percentage-point increase Q-on-Q, Belgium experienced the fastest increase in debt in Western Europe in relation to its GDP.