Bulgaria: Second Lowest Debt Relative to GDP in the EU for 2023

Eurostat data indicates that Greece (161.9%), Italy (137.3%), France (110.6%), Spain (107.7%), and Belgium reported the highest public debt-to-GDP ratios among EU member states by the conclusion of 2023.

However, the public debt to GDP ratio falls below 30% only in Estonia (19.6%), Bulgaria (23.1%), Luxembourg (25.7%), and Denmark (29.3%). Ten EU countries observed a rise in the ratio, while 17 others saw a decline.

Bulgaria emerged as the frontrunner in terms of percentage point increase, with a notable uptick of 2.1%, closely trailed by Latvia (up by 1.6 percentage points), Finland (up by 1.5 pp), Estonia (up by 1.4 pp), Sweden (up by 1.2 pp), and Poland (up by 1 pp).

The most notable declines are seen in Portugal (down by 8.4 pp), Greece (down by 3.7 pp), Slovenia (down by 2.6 pp), Belgium (down by 2.4 pp), Slovakia (down by 2.3 pp), Spain (down by 2.1 pp), Cyprus (down by 1.7 pp), Hungary (down by 1.5 pp), and France (down by 1.4 pp). While some countries saw a worrying uptick in debt-to-GDP ratios, others celebrated significant declines.

Finland led the pack in a year-on-year increase, with a notable surge of 2.3%, closely followed by Latvia, Romania, Estonia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, and Lithuania.

On the flip side, Portugal spearheaded the downward trend with a staggering decrease of 13.3%, trailed by Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy, and Germany.

By the end of 2023, our nation's debt rose to 42.383 billion leva from 37.851 billion leva the previous year. This accounts for 23.1 percent of GDP, up from 21 percent a quarter earlier and 22.6 percent at the end of 2022.