Government deficit and government debt were down in relative terms in 2015 compared to 2014 in the eurozone and European Union, the European statistical office (Eurostat) announced on Friday 21 October. In the eurozone, the deficit/GDP ratio was down by 2.6% in 2014 to 2.1%. In the EU, this ratio dropped from 3% to 2.4%.
In 2015, Luxembourg (+1.6%), Germany (+0.7%), Sweden (+0.2%) and Estonia (+0.1%) recorded a budgetary surplus. The lowest government deficits were noted in Lithuania (-0.2%), the Czech Republic (-0.6%), Romania (-0.8%) and Austria (-1%). Six member states had a deficit equal to or above the threshold of 3% of GDP authorised by the Stability Pact: Greece (-7.5%), Spain (-5.1%), Portugal (-4.4%), the United Kingdom (-4.3%), France (-3.5%) and Croatia (-3.3%).
Government debt also down. As regards the average government debt, this fell from 92% of GDP in 2014 to 90.4% at the end of 2015 in the eurozone, and from 86.7% to 85% for the EU as a whole.
At the end of 2015, the lowest debt/GDP ratios were to be found in Estonia (10.1%), Luxembourg (22.1%), Bulgaria (26%), Latvia (36.3%) and Romania (37.9%). Seventeen member states had debt/GDP ratios of more than 60%. Government debt was highest in Greece (177.4%), Italy (132.3%), Portugal (129%), Cyprus (107.5%) and Belgium (105.8%)
In 2015, public expenditure in the eurozone was equivalent to 48.5% of GDP and revenue 46.5%. For the EU of 28, public expenditure represented 47.3% and revenue 44.9% of GDP.
For various reasons, Eurostat questioned the quality of the data sent in by Cyprus, Belgium and Hungary. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)