Since the end of 2007, balance sheet of Central banks in the developed countries have expanded heavily as a result of the quantitative easing. While assets of ECB increased by only 6.5% to 23.4% of GDP at the end of 2013, FED and the Bank of England have spent 18.5% and 17.1% of GDP, respectively, to support their economies to total of 23% and 25% of GDP, rspectively. Still, it is the Bank of Japan being the biggest spender here rising its balance sheet assets by a quarter to 46.7% of GDP as of the end of 2013.
Unlike the FED and the Bank of Japan, however, the Bank of England and the ECB have started reducing their balance sheets during 2013.
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