The Bank of Spain. | Europa Press

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In the second quarter of 2021, Balearic public debt stood at 9,359 million euros, equivalent to 29.7% of regional GDP. Bank of Spain figures indicate that this was higher than in the first quarter, when it was 9,008 million.

The debt of all public administrations in Spain was 1,424,692 million euros, or 122.8% of GDP. Year on year, the rise was 10.35% - 133,661 million more, which was as a result of the Covid crisis that reduced public income and increased spending to deal with its impact.

The debt to GDP ratio of 122.8% was 2.5 percentage points lower than the ratio in the first quarter (125.3%), when it reached its highest historical level.

Debt increased except among town halls. State debt rose to 1,273,430 million euros, 9.85% more than a year ago - 109.7% of GDP, with an increase of 10.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year, but down 2.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

At regional level, debt grew by 2.1% year-on-year to 312,030 million euros; this was equivalent to 26.9% of GDP, eight tenths more than in 2020. In addition, it increased by 4,345 million compared to the previous quarter. Town halls, meanwhile, reduced their debt by 9.3% in the second quarter compared to the same period of 2020 to 22,644 million euros. This represents two per cent of GDP, similar to last year's ratio and the previous quarter.

The debt of social security administrations climbed to 91,855 million euros between April and June. This was an historical record, adding 23,000 million more in a single year, with an increase of 33.4%. The ratio over GDP rose to a record 7.9% as a consequence of the higher spending.

In absolute terms. regional debt increased except in Asturias, Madrid and Navarre. Between them, Andalusia, Catalonia, Madrid and Valencia accounted for two-thirds of all regional government debt, although this is a reflection of population. Catalonia, with 81,862 million euros, had the highest debt.

The Balearic debt of 9,359 million euros was the tenth highest among the seventeen regions. The lowest was La Rioja with 1,699 million.