Seasonally adjusted government deficit in the Eurozone fell from 1.0% to 0.3% of GDP between the second and third quarters of 2017, according to data published by the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat) on Wednesday 24 January.
In the EU, the government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 0.6% of GDP, compared to 1.2% in the previous quarter.
In the third quarter of 2017, total government revenue in the Eurozone stood at 46.2% of GDP, up from the second quarter (46.1%), and total government spending stood at 46.5% of GDP, down from the previous quarter (47.1%).
The highest government debt to GDP ratios were recorded in Greece (177.4%), Italy (134.1%) and Portugal (130.8%), and the lowest were recorded in Estonia (8.9%), Luxembourg (23.4%) and Bulgaria (25.6%).
Compared to the third quarter of 2016, three member states (Italy, Luxembourg and France) saw an increase in their government debt to GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2017 and 24 others saw a reduction, whilst the ratio remained unchanged in Latvia. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)