Differences and similarities in the indebtedness of EU member states after last financial crisis

Abstract

Indebtedness is undoubtedly one of the most significant economic problems in the countries of the EU. Despite the fact that the EU-28 have adopted criteria and measures that should regulate indebtedness, the majority of member states are not keeping up to these previously agreed rules. For many countries indebtedness has become a barrier to further development. The article’s aim is to provide an overview of the indebtedness of EU member states and to explore whether this indebtedness is linked to or even dependent on selected economic characteristics (GDP, unemployment rate and social benefits paid as a share of GDP). Data from the EU-28 countries, the Eurozone and the countries outside the Eurozone will be studied separately on the assumption that there will be differences between the countries in the Eurozone and those outside it. In the investigation of the issue only secondary data from the official statistics can be used. All the data are taken from Eurostat and then processed using the standard methods of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The analysis carried out showed that the average indebtedness of the EU-28 countries is higher than set by the EU criteria, and at the same time confirmed that there is a difference in debt levels between countries within and outside the Eurozone. The Eurozone countries show indebtedness that is overall higher than in countries outside the Eurozone, while at the same time they show a moderately strong linear dependence both between indebtedness and unemployment rates and between indebtedness and payments of social benefits. In the countries outside the Eurozone it was shown that while the relationship between indebtedness and the unemployment rate was weak that between indebtedness and the payment of social benefits was relatively strong.