General government gross debt 2021 forecast

The aggregate general government debt-to-GDP ratio was on a declining path between 2014 and 2019, when it reached 85.5 % of GDP in the euro area and 78.8 % in the EU. As a result of the significant measures taken to counter the pandemic in 2020, the debt-to-GDP ratio rose significantly and reached 99.3 % in the euro area and 91.8 % in the EU. It is forecast to increase marginally to 100.0 % in the euro area and 92.1 % in the EU as a whole for 2021. Going forward, it is expected to decrease to 97.9 % in the euro area and 90 % in the EU in 2022 and, eventually, to 97 % in the euro area and 89.1 % in the EU in 2023. By then, six Member States will have debt exceeding 100 % of GDP, while fourteen Member States will have debt exceeding the Maastricht debt criterion of 60 % of GDP