EU, eurozone debt breaks through 100% GDP ceiling: Italy at 160%

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, a period marked by measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the public debt of the euro area rose to 100.5% of GDP, officially exceeding the threshold of the 100%, compared to 97.8% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. This was reported by Eurostat. The countries with the highest public debt are Greece (209.3%), Italy (160%), Portugal (137.2%), Cyprus (125.7%), Spain 125.2%), Belgium (118, 6%) and France (118%); the least indebted Estonia (18.5%), Bulgaria (25.1%) and Luxembourg (28.1%). The average public deficit of euro area countries in the first quarter of 2021 fell to 7.4% of GDP compared to 8.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020. In the EU it stood at 6.8%, from 7 , 5%.