The debt ratio stood at 107.7 percent economic output at the end of 2023, down 5.5 percentage points from the same year-ago period, it said in a statement.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s coalition government, which has ramped up social spending to help households deal with high inflation, had targeted a ratio of 108.1 percent.

“They made us believe that we could only reduce the debt and public deficit with austerity and cuts in benefits… We have proven that it is not true. This is the way!,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the figure was released.

Nos hicieron creer que solo podíamos rebajar la deuda y el déficit público con austeridad y recortes de derechos.

Hemos demostrado que no es cierto.

España reduce su deuda al mismo tiempo que crece y avanza en derechos sociales.

¡Este es el camino! #EspañaGobierna pic.twitter.com/E0vRc4iC35

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) February 16, 2024

Spain’s public debt-to-GDP ratio, one of the highest in Europe, hit 125.7 percent in 2020 due to increased government spending to prop up the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government had pledged to bring the ratio down to 106.3 percent at the end of 2024.

Spain’s economy, the eurozone’s fourth largest, expanded by 2.5 percent in 2023, slightly above the government’s forecast of 2.4 percent growth, as the country welcomed a record number of foreign visitors, over 84 million.