The seasonally adjusted general government deficit decreased by 0.6 percentage points in the euro area and 0.4 percentage points in the European Union in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter, to 0.5% and 0.6% of GDP respectively, according to figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Wednesday 31 July.
Government deficit, which had increased between the third and fourth quarters of 2018, is therefore now on a downward trend (see EUROPE 12241/17).
By way of contrast, it increased by 0.2 percentage points in the euro area compared to the rate seen in the first quarter of 2018, while the figures in the EU for the first quarters of 2018 and 2019 have remained the same.
With regard to government debt, the average rate in the euro area in the first quarter of 2019 was 85.9% of GDP, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, while the rate in the EU was 80.7%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over the same period. However, in the first quarter of 2018, the average debt ratio was 87.1% of GDP in the euro area and 81.6% of GDP in the EU.
However, these average rates hide significant disparities between Member States. In the first quarter of this year, for example, public debt reached 181.9% and 134.0% of GDP in Greece and Italy respectively, while the rate stood at 21.2% and 8.1% of GDP in Bulgaria and Estonia respectively. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)