JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 ׁ(Xinhua) -- Israel's public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio reached 69 percent in 2024, compared to 61.3 percent in 2023, the country's Finance Ministry said Tuesday in a statement.
This is the second-highest public debt-to-GDP ratio since 2010, when the figure was 69.3 percent, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the country's government debt-to-GDP ratio hit 67.6 percent in 2024, up from 59.9 percent in 2023, it said.
The rise of the debt-to-GDP ratio, a key indicator of Israel's financial strength, is due to dramatic increase in government funding needs, both for security and civilian purposes, following the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, it said.
The government's budget deficit in 2024 was 38.3 billion U.S. dollars, or 6.9 percent of GDP, due to high spending, and the country successfully raised a substantial debt of some 78.2 billion dollars despite significant challenges, it added.
