Driven down by relentless austerity measures, Greek government debt fell from 170.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2011 to 156.9 percent at the end of last year, according to figures published by Eurostat, that also showed theĀ deficit rose from 9.5 to 10 percent in the same period.
Greek public debt peaked at 355 billion euros ($462.5 billion) in 2011, falling to 303 billion euros ($394.8 billion) last year after the government imposed 74 percent losses on banks and investors, including those in the Diaspora, some of whom lost much of their life’s savings buying bonds supporting their homeland.
According to Eurostat, Greek government expenditure rose from 52 billion euros ($67.7 billion) in 2011 to 54.8 billion euros ($71.43 billion) last year. Public revenues rose from 42.4 billion euros ($55.27 billion) in 2011 to 44.7 billion euros ($58.27 billion) a year later.
Overall, in the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 4.2 percent in 2011 to 3.7 percent in 2012, and in the EU27 from 4.4 percent to 4 percent. In the Eurozone, the government debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 87.3 percent at the end of 2011 to 90.6 percent at the end of 2012, and in the EU27 from 82.5 percent to 85.3 percent.
Last year, Greece had the second-highest public deficit in the EU last year after Spain, where it reached 10.6 percent of GDP. It had the highest public debt ratio among the 27 member states.
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