Government debt in the 17-member eurozone crept up in the third quarter of last year after the region lurched into recession, data released Wednesday showed.
The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said the average ratio of government debt to gross domestic product (GDP) in the bloc nudged up to 90 per cent in the three months to the end of September compared with 89.9 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
The debt ratio was up from 86.8 per cent a year earlier despite measures by eurozone member states over the last 12 months to trim their debt-and-deficit levels.
However, the eurozone slumped into recession during the third quarter as austerity measures undercut economic growth.
Nations at the centre of the debt crisis posted the highest debt levels with debt hitting 152.6 per cent in Greece in the third quarter compared with the second and 127.3 per cent in Italy.
The debt-to-GDP ratio in Portugal stood at 120.3 per cent and 117 per cent in Ireland.
However, Spain's debt stood at 77.4 per cent, which was lower than many other eurozone states including the region's two biggest economies - Germany and France.
At 9.6 per cent, the small Baltic state of Estonia had the lowest debt level.
In the 27-member EU the ratio edged up to 85.1 per cent in the third quarter compared with 85.0 per cent in the three months to the end of June.