According to the latest data published by European statistics authority Eurostat, the public debt of Greece during the first semester of 2013 was estimated to be 160.5% of GDP and rose to 169.1% in the second semester of the year.
Greece has the highest debt rate in the EU, followed by Italy (133.3%), Portugal (131.3%) and Ireland (125.7%). On the other side of the spectrum Estonia has the lowest debt rate of 9.8%, followed by Bulgaria (18%) and Luxemburg (23.1%). The public debt in the Eurozone climbed from 92.3% GDP in the first semester to 93.4% in the second, while in the EU the debt rose from 85.9% to 86.8% GDP.
Overall Eurostat documented an increase of public in 24 member states and a drop in four. The most significant increases were in Greece (19.9%), Ireland (15.5%) and Cyprus (15.2%), with Latvia (-3.8%), Germany (-2.1%), Denmark and Austria (-0.6% each) showing the hugest drops in debt.
