The government debt ratio, which is the total market-valued government debt as a percentage of GDP, has decreased by 48 percentage points since the start of the time series. The traces of the financial crisis in the 1990s, caused the government to be 82 percent of GDP in 1995, before peaking in 1998 at 88 percent.
Since 1998, the government debt ratio has declined. In some years, it has slightly increased, only to decrease again. Between 2019 and 2020, the government debt ratio increased by six percentage points, from 40 percent to 46 percent. This is the largest increase in the government debt ratio between two years. One reason is that the government borrowed more this year as a result of the pandemic that broke out in 2020. Since 2020, the central government debt ratio has decreased by four percentage points per year, and at the end of 2023 it amounted to 34 percent of GDP, which is the lowest ratio since 1995.
The total market-valued debt of local government as a percentage of GDP has had a steadier development since the start of the time series, from 9 percent in 1995 to 22 percent in 2023. The only decrease in the time series is between 2020 and 2021, the period when local government received grants from the central government due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first quarter of 2024, the central government debt ratio continued to decline and ended up at 34 percent. The local government debt ratio was at the same level as at the end of 2023, at 22 percent.
Financing of non-financial corporations
In the first quarter of 2024, the value of non-financial corporations’ financing through loans, new loans minus amortization, from monetary financial institutions was SEK 5 billion. This marks an increase compared to the previous quarter, when this value was minus SEK 74 billion, and a significant decrease from the corresponding quarter last year, when this value was SEK 51 billion.
Financing through interest-bearing securities, new issues minus maturities and repurchases, amounted to minus SEK 50 billion. This is SEK 42 billion lower than in the previous quarter and SEK 3 billion higher than in the corresponding quarter last year.
Total loans from monetary financial institutions amounted to SEK 2 877 billion at the end of the quarter. The value of issued debt securities amounted to SEK 1 474 billion.
