Romania borrowed more in the last quarter of 2024, but the debt remains well below the EU average

Ashley Davis22/04/2025

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Romania borrowed more in the last quarter of 2024, but the government debt remained well below the EU average, 87% of GDP, according to the data of the European Eurostat Office.

Romania borrowed more in the last quarter of 2024. Photo archive

The weight in GDP of the general government debt was at 81% in the European Union, and 87.4% in the euro area at the end of the four quarter of 2024, decreasing from 81.6% in the EU and 88.1% in the euro area, at the end of the third quarter of last year, Eurostat data shows.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the weight in GDP of the government debt increased easily both in the euro area (from 87.3% to 87.4%) and in the EU (from 80.8% to 81%).

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the EU member countries with the highest weight of GDP were Greece (153.6%), Italy (135.3%), France (113%), Belgium (104.7%) and Spain (101.8%).

The EU member states with the lowest weight in GDP of government debt were Estonia (23.6%), Bulgaria (24.1%), Luxembourg (26.3%), Denmark (31.1%), Sweden (33.5%) and Lithuania (38.2%). Follow the group of countries with weight in GDP of government debt between 40%and 60%: Ireland (40.9%), Netherlands (43.3%), Czech Republic (43.6%), Latvia (46.8%), Malta (47.4%), Romania (54.8%), Poland (55.3%), Croatia (57.6%) and Slovakia (59.3%).

Compared to the third quarter of 2024, eight EU member countries registered an increase of the weight in GDP of the government debt at the end of the four quarter of 2024, 18 a decrease, and the level remained stable in Finland.

The biggest increases were in Poland (two percentage points – PP), Romania and Sweden (both with 1.6 pp), Malta (1.5 pp) and the Netherlands (1.2 pp). The most important decreases were in Greece (4.7 pp), Cyprus (4.1 pp), Spain (2.5 pp), Denmark (2.3 pp), Portugal (2.2 pp), Hungary (2.1 pp) and Croatia (two percentage points).

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, 16 EU member countries registered an increase of the weight in GDP of the government debt at the end of the four quarter of 2024, and 11 a decrease. The biggest increases were in Romania (5.9 pp), Poland (5.7 pp), Finland (4.5 pp), Slovakia (3.6 pp), Estonia (3.4 pp), Austria (3.3 pp) and France (3.2 pp). The most important decreases were in Greece (10.3 pp), Cyprus (8.6 pp), Croatia (4.3 pp), Spain (3.3 pp), Portugal (2.8 pp), Denmark (2.5 pp) and Ireland (2.4 pp).

Regarding Romania, Eurostat data shows that the government debt rose to 963.9 billion lei, or 54.8% of GDP, in the fourth quarter of 2024, from 916.4 billion lei, or 53.2% of GDP, in the previous three months.