Eurostat: in 2018 Italian debt rose to 134.8% of GDP

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The Italian public debt is worse than expected: according to Eurostat in 2018 it has reached share 134.8% of GDP , up from the 134.1% recorded in 2017. Instead, the deficit fell to 2.2% of the gross domestic product, from 2.4% two years ago. The EU economic forecasts published in April gave Italian debt 2018 to 132.2%, and the deficit to 2.1%.

In its second notification of the final data of 2018 the Statistical Office of the European Union confirms the second position of our country in the ranking of the worst national debt in Europe, exceeded only by the Greece (181.2% of GDP). Looking at the major EU countries, the debt of the Germany in 2018 it fell to 61.9%, from 65.3% in 2017, while the deficit rose from 1.2% to 1.9%. In France the debt remained stable at 98.4%, while the deficit fell from 2.8% to 2.5%. In Spain debt fell to 97.6%, from 98.6% in the previous year, and the deficit from 3% to 2.5%. In Portugal the debt fell to 122.2% from 126%, and the deficit from 3% to 0.4%. While in Cyprus the public debt rose from 93.9% to 100.6%, and the deficit from 1.7% to -4.4%, the only EU country with the deficit above 3%.

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In 2018, the deficit / GDP ratio reported by Eurostat decreased both in the euro area E19 and in the EU-28 in relative terms compared to 2017. In the euro area the ratio between deficit and GDP fell from 0 , 9% in 2017 to 0.5% in 2018, and in the EU from 1% to 0.7 percent. Debt also decreased: in the euro area the public debt / GDP ratio fell from 87.8% at the end of 2017 to 85.9% at the end of 2018 and in the EU from 82.1% to 80.4 percent.