At the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA19) stood at 84.1%, compared with 85.9% at the end of the third quarter of 2019. In the EU27, the ratio decreased from 79.3% to 77.8%. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, the government debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 85.8% to 84.1%) and the EU27 (from 79.6% to 77.8%).