Public debt (Polish definition) at the end of 2012 stood at PLN 840.5 billion, as compared to PLN 815.3 billion at the end of 2011. According to preliminary estimates the debt to GDP ratio was 52.7% as compared to 53.5% at the end of 2011.
General government debt (EU definition) at the end of 2012 stood at PLN 886.8 billion, as compared to PLN 859.1 billion at the end of 2011, the general government debt to GDP ratio was 55.6% as compared to 56.4% at the end of 2011.
After deducting an increase of liquid funds raised to prefinance the borrowing requirements of 2013, the public debt to GDP ratio at the end of 2012 would be still lower, at 51.9% (Polish definition) and 54.8% (EU definition) respectively.
The decrease in public debt to GDP ratio in 2012 is the first one since 2007.
Comparison of the above data with the European Commission forecasts for the EU member states leads to the conclusion that in 2012 the decrease in public debt to GDP ratio in Poland was the highest in the European Union (excluding Greece, that had its debt restructured and Hungary, where pension funds were nationalized). In only 6 out of 27 EU member states a decrease of public debt to GDP took place, while the ratio increased by 4.1 pp in the EU as a whole, by 4.6 pp in the United Kingdom and by 19.1 pp in Spain.