Brussels, 22/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The deficit and public debt figures for the EU and the Eurozone for 2013, established by Eurostat using the new SEC 2010 system and published on Tuesday 21 October, have been reviewed downwards compared to the figures published in April of this year.
Public deficit in the Eurozone was 2.9% in 2013, according to the updated figures, rather than 3%, according to those from April. In the EU, the same trend can be observed, with the deficit down to 3.2% from the 3.3% calculated in April. As a Eurostat source commented, the impact on the debt levels is more significant. In this way, Eurozone public debt stood at 90.9% in 2013, compared to 92.6% according to the April figures. For the EU, public debt was 85.4%, rather than 87.1% as published in April.
When examining the figures state by state, the greatest change regarding deficit can be seen in Ireland and for debt, Cyprus. Dublin's deficit is established at 5.7% of GDP in 2013, down from 7.2% under the previous methodology. Cyprus's public debt, previously calculated at 111.7% of GDP, represents102.2% of GDP under the new methodology, mainly due to the revision of the GDP itself. The impact on Cyprus's deficit is smaller, dropping from 5.4% of GDP to 4.9% under the new calculations.
It is also worth noting that Luxembourg sees its budgetary surplus increase under the new methodology, standing at 0.6% of GDP in 2013, whilst the April figures set it at 0.1%. Germany, which previously just about broke even, finds itself in a slight situation of surplus in 2013 (+0.1%). France also gains slightly from the change, with its deficit for 2013 reduced from 4.3% in April to 4.1%. Greece, which continues to have the highest debt and one of the highest deficits in the whole of the EU, also trims a little from its figures. Its debt stood at 174.9% in the new Eurostat calculations, compared to 175.1% according to the April figures. Its deficit falls from 12.7% to 12.2%. It is worth noting that in the case of Greece, the cost of supporting the banking sector has also been reviewed downwards. In April, this was put at 10.8% of GDP and now stands at 10.4%, for reasons unconnected to Eurostat's methodology.
Croatia and Estonia's deficits have also changed. Eurostat put these at respectively 4.9% and 0.2% of GDP for 2013 in April and has now revised them to 5.2% and 0.5% of GDP. (EL)