Spanish general government debt recorded a moderation in the second quarter of 2024, reaching 105.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)according to data from the Bank of Spain published this Monday. This figure represents a slight decrease from 106.3% recorded in the first quarter of this year, although it is still 0.2 percentage points higher than the level reached at the end of 2023.
The downward adjustment of the debt/GDP ratio is explained, to a large extent, by the recent upward revision of GDP for the years 2021 and 2023 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This update allowed a significant correction of previous estimates and brought forward the achievement of the government’s objectives, initially planned for 2024.
With this new data, The Spanish economy would have reached the public debt target of 105% of GDP initially planned for 2024 by 2023.thus advancing compliance with the government’s commitments.
Despite the improvement in the percentage of GDP, the total volume of public debt reached a new record of 1,626 billion euros. THE Central administration always is the main person responsible for this debtwith a balance of 1,485 billion euros, or 96.2% of GDP. The autonomous communities, for their part, have accumulated a debt of 337 billion, or 21.9% of GDP.
At the local level, local businesses have also reached historic figures with a debt of 24 billion, or 1.5% of GDP. The Social Security debt remained stable at 116 billion, or 7.5% of GDP.
