According to the Bank of Spain (BdE), the debt of Spain’s public administrations as a whole increased by 1% in March compared to February, reaching a record high of €1.535 trillion, bringing it to 113% of GDP (113.2% at the end of 2022) – the BdE uses the nominal GDP of the last four quarters for this calculation.
In the last 12 months, Spain’s public debt has grown by 5.6% (€81.54 billion) as a result of lower revenues and higher expenses derived, first, from the pandemic crisis and, subsequently, from the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the rise in prices.
In particular, in March the State debt stood at €1.363 trillion, also a historical record, which represents an increase of 1.08% (+€14,589 million in just one month), while in the last 12 months it has risen by 7%. For their part, in March the Autonomous Communities (ACs) increased their debt by 1.5% compared to February, to €322,271 million (+€4,761 million), while in the year-on-year rate the debt of the ACs rose by 4%.
In turn, local councils as a whole increased their debt in March by 0.7% to €23,066 million, while in the last 12 months it has risen by 2.7%. Finally, Social Security debt remained stable in March at €106,172 million, while in the last 12 months it has gone up by 7%.
In March, Social Security debt also remained at record highs. The BdE explains in its report that the increase in Social Security debt over the last year is due to the loans granted by the State to the Social Security General Treasury to finance its budgetary imbalance.
