Net lending or borrowing as a share of GDP in European Union countries 2022

The borrowing of the member states of the European Union is usually governed by the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), an agreement between member states which aims to keep public debt below 60 percent of GDP and to keep annual budget deficits below three percent. These rules have been suspended numerous times since being introduced in 1997, usually due to the effects of an economic crisis, such as with the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2008. Due to the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which broke out in Europe in early 2020, the rules of the SGP were suspended between 2020 and 2024. 

This was done to allow EU member states to stimulate their economies using fiscal policy (i.e. government spending and investment) and also to counteract the effects of declining GDP, as otherwise countries with negative GDP growth would be forced to cut government spending to stay within the rules of the SGP, likely further worsening their recessions. As of 2021, the countries with the greatest net borrowing to GDP ratios were Italy, Malta, and Greece. Most EU member states borrowed more than they lent out in 2022, apart from Denmark, Cyprus, Ireland, Sweden, and Croatia who lent out between 0.1 and 3.3 percent of their GDPs respectively.