European national debt levels have continued to rise above EU limits as the eurozone debt crisis erodes government revenues. The EU statistics agency Eurostat said the total accumulated national debt in the 17 eurozone nations increased to 90% of GDP in the second quarter, up from 88.2% in the first three months of the year. In the full 27-member EU, debt rose to 84.9% of GDP from 83.5%. The EU sets a cap of 60% on total debt and 3% on annual public deficits but such limits had been under pressure for years in some states when the crisis began.

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Austerity policies adopted to cope with the crisis have been less effective than expected. The most indebted nation at the end of the second quarter was Greece with a burden of 150.3% GDP, followed by Italy, Spain, and Ireland.