National debt tops 105% of GDP

The national debt now stands at 105% of Belgium’s gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the market value of all officially recognised final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.

The figures for the second quarter of the year are 0.5% up on the figure of 104.5% GDP recorded for the first quarter of 2013. The figures are also well up on the national debt figure of 102.7% GDP in the second quarter of 2012.

Belgium had promised the European Commission that the national debt would be under 100% of GNP by the end of the year.

The Belgian national debt figures are well above the average for the Eurozone as a whole of 93.4%.

However, they are still far better than the figures from the countries that have been hit hardest by the economic crisis such as Greece (169% of GDP), Italy and Portugal (both about 130% of GDP). At just 9.8% of GDP, Estonia has the lowest national debt in the Eurozone.

[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]