European debt crisis: It's not just Greece that's drowning in debt

Altogether there are five European nations whose debts are larger than their economic output, and 21 that have debts larger than the 60 per cent-of-GDP limit set out in the Maastricht Treaty.

Greece’s public debt is, unsurprisingly, the highest in the EU - standing at 177 per cent of its GDP. Italy and Portugal are the next most indebted countries, with debts of 132 per cent  and 129 per cent of national economic output respectively.

The smallest debts, as a proportion of GDP, were seen in Estonia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria in 2015. All of these governments have debts below 30 per cent of their GDP.

The United Kingdom’s debt currently accounts for 89.1 per cent of its GDP, eighth highest in the EU.