BERLIN, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Germany's public debt decreased by 2.3 percent year-on-year to 1.9298 trillion euros (2.214 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of the third quarter of 2018, figures by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed on Thursday.
Across all public areas in Germany, including that of the national government, federal states, municipalities, community associations and social insurance, total debt fell by 0.2 percent compared to the end of the second quarter.
Germany's national government alone reduced its debt by 1.4 percent to 1.226 trillion euros in a year on year comparison. In 2012, Germany's national debt had peaked at 2.068 trillion euros.
The federal states' debt declined by 3.4 percent on average and amounted to 572 billion euros. With the exception of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, all German federal states reduced their debts. In those two cases, additional borrowing to enable the sale of HSH Nordbank was a "major reason for this development", according to Destatis.
The debt of the municipalities also decreased by 5.5 percent to 131.1 billion euros. The decline was particularly large in Hesse where a program called HESSENKASSE relieved 144 municipalities of debts worth 3.6 billion euros. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)
