Croatia is among the few European Union member countries that have managed to reduce their public debt below the pre-pandemic level, the Vecernji List daily reported on Wednesday.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Croatia’s public debt stood around 71 percent of GDP, while the latest estimates show that it dropped to 69 percent by the end of last year.

Bearing in mind that the domestic public debt exploded to 87 percent of GDP in 2020, this is a huge improvement thanks in part to the recovery of the tourism industry and high inflation. Apart from Croatia, only Greece has managed to bring its public debt back to the 2019 level, Vecernji List said.

Among the five member states that recorded the largest decreases in public debt last year, four are considerably tourism-oriented, namely Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, and Portugal. The only exception is Denmark, whose public debt is around 30 percent.

The average public debt of the eurozone countries is around 93 percent of GDP, while that of the EU is 85 percent, Vecernji List said, adding that the European Commission will decide on further steps regarding public debt in March.