Far away from targets

Austria slips deeper and deeper into debt crisis

Austria's public debt continued to rise in the third quarter of this year. As of September 30, public debt amounted to 398.4 billion euros, Statistics Austria announced on Monday. This is 3.6 billion euros more than at the end of the previous quarter. 

The public deficit most recently amounted to 4.5 billion euros or 3.8 percent of GDP.

Far away from Maastricht targets
"Austria continued to build up debt in the third quarter of 2024," said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas. "At the same time, the debt ratio, i.e. the ratio of public debt to economic output, rose from 82.9 percent in the second quarter of 2024 to the current 83.2 percent and has thus moved further away from the Maastricht target of 60 percent."

354.1 billion euros of the debt was accounted for by bonds, 42.3 billion euros by loans and 2.0 billion euros by deposits

Federal sector with largest increase
The largest increase in public debt was in the federal sector, where new liabilities amounting to 1.8 billion euros were added. According to Statistics Austria, the increase is primarily attributable to the state railroad infrastructure units, which invested in infrastructure with new debt.

An increase in debt was also recorded in the state and municipal sector, mainly to finance current deficits.