Government debt in the EU Member States in 2020 as a percentage of GDP

20 comments
  1. I love seeing one mostly meaningless number contextualised with another mostly meaningless number, feels like farting with my brain

  2. Debt to gdp is certainly important but something that is often neglected is the borrowing interest rate for that debt. Debt piled up by Spain, even if it’s the same Debt to GDP, is more burdensome than if a nation like Germany had it.

    It’s kinda why that common debt during COVID was such a big deal.

  3. I am confident that with the constitutional *Schuldenbremse* (debt brake) in place, Germany will be back below 60 percent soon. This is not only a matter of financial common sense and European solidarity and law, it also is a matter of basic human decency.

  4. Many people think debt is bad, but fail to realize that 100 million government deficit is a 100 surplus for the citizens.

  5. Couldn’t all EU countries consolidate their individual debts into a single EU debt that the EU could get a better rate/deal on for repaying?

  6. Measuring Ireland’s debt as a % of GDP is flawed. Usually GDP is a fair measure of the economic activity a government can tap into for various tax revenues and ultimately pay down its debt. Ireland’s GDP is artificially inflated by schemes by multinationals that claim they create great value in the country – pay very little tax on it – and then transfer all the wealth out.

  7. Italy’s public debt is mostly interior and owned by italian citizens, more or less as happens in Japan (which has got a higher public debt than Italy).

    These decontextualized diagrams don’t explain anything.

  8. 2020 was a very particular year. The whole economy was shut down.

    All these numbers are bigger than they should because 2020’s GDP was so small. This debt was not *that* much bigger than 2019, it was just divided over a small GDP.

    Growth for 2021 and 2022 is expected to be very big, not because we’re accelerating, but simply because we’re returning to normal GDP levels. Maybe not as high as 2019, but e.g. if 2019 was 100, then in 2020 we descended to like 85-90, then in 2022 we’ll be back probably not to 100 but at least 98-99. I’m expecting debt-to-GDP ratio to look a bit better by then.

    Also, consider how Italy’s ratio was reduced from 120% in 1994 to 100% in 2008 right before the crisis. Now France is at 110%. Is it really that bad for France? I don’t think so. Let’s wait for 2022 data.

  9. Meanwhile in America:

    “Can we turn back? We are starting to lack oxygen!”

    “No damnit! Call China! We need that new aircraft carrier!”

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