BERLIN, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The German national debt fell sharply in the first half of this year thanks to the good economic situation, data revealed on Thursday.
At the end of June, the federal government, the states, the municipalities and social insurance had accumulated debts of 1,977.8 billion euros (2,355.5 billion U.S. dollars) with banks and other private companies.
On a year-on-year comparison, this represents a decline of 2.9 percent (59.8 billion euros), the Federal Statistical Office reported on Thursday based on preliminary results.
The national debt fell by 0.4 percent (7.3 billion euros) compared with the first quarter of 2017. The debt had already declined by 0.8 percent over the course of 2016.
All levels of government were able to reduce their debt during the first half of 2017. The decline was strongest for the federal government at 3.3 percent to 1,244 billion euros. The state's debt fell by 2.4 percent to 592.9 billion euros. Municipal debts fell by 1.8 percent to 140.5 billion euros.