In October 2018 non-financial sector indebtedness stood at €721.5 billion, of which €322.0 billion referred to the public sector and €399.5 billion to the private sector.

Compared with September 2018, non-financial sector indebtedness increased by €2.5 billion. This rise resulted from a €2.8 billion increase in public sector indebtedness, which was partly offset by a €0.4 billion decrease in private sector indebtedness (Chart 1).

The increase in public sector indebtedness was mostly due to an increase in financing granted by the non-resident sector, general government and the financial sector (Chart 2).

As regards private sector indebtedness, there was a €1.1 billion decrease in the indebtedness of corporations from the financial sector. This reduction was partly offset by a €0.7 billion rise in external financing to corporations.