Brussels, 22/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The seasonally adjusted government deficit to GDP ratio was down in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the previous quarter, while government debt was up, according to the latest figures from the European statistical office, Eurostat, published on Friday 22 July.
In the first quarter, government deficit stood at 1.6% in the Eurozone compared to 2.3% in the previous quarter. In the EU as a whole, it stood at 1.8%, down from 2.3% in the last quarter of 2015. Total government revenue was 46.3% of GDP in the Eurozone, down from the previous quarter (46.7%), and 44.9% of GDP in the EU (45.3% in the previous quarter). Total government expenditure represented 48% of GDP in the Eurozone, compared to 48.9% in the previous quarter, and 46.8% of GDP in the EU (47.6% in the previous quarter).
As regards the debt/GDP ratio, this rose in the Eurozone (from 90.7% in the final quarter of 2015 to 91.7% in the first quarter of 2016) and fell in the EU (from 85.3% to 84.8%). Compared to the first quarter of 2015, the ratio was down in the Eurozone and the EU (from 93% to 91.7% and from 88.1% to 84.8%). The highest ratios were observed in Greece (176.3%), Italy (135.4%) and Portugal (128.9%) and the lowest in Estonia (9.6%), Luxembourg (21.8%) and Bulgaria (30.3%). (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)