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Debt mainly held by non-residents in half of the EU Member States

Jun 27, 2018 | News

(27 June 2018) – Significant differences can be observed across the European Union regarding the sector in which government debt is held.

Debt
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Among Member States for which data are available, the share of public debt held by non-residents in 2017 was highest in Cyprus (82%), followed by Lithuania (73%), Latvia (68%), Finland, Austria and Slovenia (all 67%).

In contrast, the largest proportion of debt held by the (resident) financial corporations sector was recorded in Sweden and Denmark (both 69%), ahead of the Netherlands, Malta and Italy (all 62%).

Generally across the EU, less than 10% of debt was held by the resident non-financial sectors (non-financial corporations, households and non-profit institutions serving households), with the noticeable exceptions of Malta (26%), Hungary (20%), Portugal (13%) and Ireland (11%).

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