In the third quarter of 2020, the ratio of the public deficit to GDP, adjusted for seasonal variations, was 5.8% in the euro area and 5.6% in the European Union, according to data published by the EU’s Statistics Office (Eurostat) on Thursday 21 January.
The third quarter of last year saw a strong recovery from the second quarter of 2020, when average deficits reached -11.9% of GDP in the euro area and -11.6% in the EU. These were the highest levels ever recorded since the beginning of the time series.
In the third quarter of 2020, all Member States continued to record a government deficit. Among the 22 Member States for which data are available, the deficit was highest in Malta (-10.9%) and Romania (-10.0%). It was -7.7% in Spain, -4.9% in France, and -4.6% in Germany. Denmark (-0.9%), Slovenia (-1.8%), and Sweden (-2.4%) fared best.
Debt. At the end of September 2020, the ratio of public debt to GDP stood at 97.3% in the euro area (95.0% at the end of the second quarter) and 89.8% in the EU (87.7%).
The highest ratios were recorded in Greece (199.9%), Italy (154.2%), Portugal (130.8%), Cyprus (119.5%), France (116.5%), Spain (114.1%) and Belgium (113.2%), while the lowest ratios were observed in Estonia (18.5%), Bulgaria (25.3%) and Luxembourg (26.1%).
Compared to the second quarter of 2020, 20 Member States recorded an increase in their public debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2020, while five others recorded a decrease. The largest increases in the ratio were observed in Greece (+8.5 percentage points), Cyprus (+6.2 pp), Italy (+4.9 pp) and Portugal (+4.8 pp).
Decreases were observed in Austria (-3.4 pp), Finland (-1.7 pp), the Czech Republic (-1.5 pp), Belgium (-0.9 pp) and Ireland (-0.7 pp). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)