File Photo AFP-Lehtikuva
At the end of the first quarter of 2015, the government debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio in the 19-nation eurozone rose to 92.9 percent from 92.0 percent in the previous quarter, the statistical office of the EU, Eurostat, said on Wednesday.
In the wider 28-member EU, the ratio increased from 86.9 percent to 88.2 percent.
Compared with the first quarter of 2014, the government debt-to-GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 91.9 percent to 92.9 percent) and the EU (from 86.2 percent to 88.2 percent).
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Greece (168.8 percent), Italy (135.1 percent) and Portugal (129.6 percent), and the lowest in Estonia (10.5 percent), Luxembourg (21.6 percent) and Bulgaria (29.6 percent).
According to European rules, the eurozone government debt should be maintained below 60 percent of GDP.
