Government debt in EU at all-time high

Government debt in the EU has hit an all-time high with Ireland having the highest increase in debt to GDP ratio in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous three months, bringing it to a record 125% of GDP — €204bn.

After five years of austerity and consolidation measures in Greece their debt at 160.5% of GDP is the highest in the EU, having experienced the biggest increase of just over 24 percentage points over the past 12 months.

Ireland’s increase was the next largest at 18.3 percentage points, up from 117.4% in Dec 2012.