Romania reported the highest government deficit in the European Union last year, of 9.3%, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
Some 12 EU member states recorded deficits of 3% of above last year, with other countries to report a high deficit including Poland (-6.5%), France (‑5.8%) and Slovakia (-5.5%).
Just six countries reported a surplus in 2024, the data showed, including Denmark (+4.5%), Cyprus (+4.1%), Ireland (+4.0%), Greece (+1.2%), Luxembourg (+0.9%) and Portugal (+0.5%).
Government deficit to GDP
At an EU level, the ratio of government deficit to GDP declined to 3.1% in 2024, with the same ratio recorded in the euro area.
Government debt ratios remained relatively stable, year-on-year, increasing slightly from 87.0% to 87.1% of GDP in the euro area and from 80.5% to 80.7% in the EU.
Government total expenditure to GDP ratio stood at 49.2% in the European Union, while government total revenue to GDP ratio stood at 46.0%. In the euro area specifically, these figures stood at 49.5% and 46.4%, respectively.
Compared with 2023, both revenue and expenditure ratios rose slightly in the euro area and in the EU.
Government debt levels varied widely across the European Union last year, with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios observed in Estonia (23.5%), Bulgaria (23.8%), Luxembourg (26.3%), Denmark (30.5%), Sweden (34.0%) and Lithuania (38.0%), Eurostat‘s data showed. Some 12 EU member states reported debt ratios above 60% of GDP, including Greece (154.2%), Italy (134.9%), France (113.2%), Belgium (103.9%) and Spain (101.6%). Read more here.
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