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ROME, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Italy's public debt rose to 2.3trillion euros (2.75 trillion dollars) in July, the Bank of Italyreported Friday.

Debt was up by 18.6 billion euros compared to the previousmonth, according to the central bank.

The tax take equaled 233.1 billion euros in the first sevenmonths of the year, down 1.2 percent compared to the same period in2016, the Bank of Italy said.

Italy has the highest public debt in the European Union. Itstood at 134.7 percent of GDP in the first quarter of this year,down from 134.8 percent in the same period in 2016, according to EUstatistics agency Eurostat.

This compares to an average debt-to-GDP ratio of 84.1 percent inthe EU-28, according to Eurostat.

The country with the lowest first-quarter debt was Estonia at9.2 percent of GDP, Eurostat said. Enditem