In 2021 compared to 2020, the government deficit and government debt decreased from 7.1% to 5.1% of GDP and 97.2% to 95.6% of GDP, respectively, in the euro area. At the EU level, deficit ratios followed a similar path, reducing from 6.8% to 4.7% of GDP and government debt from 90.0% to 88.1% of GDP.
Last year, all Member States, except Denmark (+2.3%) and Luxembourg (+0.9%), reported a deficit, with fifteen countries showing a deficit above 3% of GDP. The highest deficits were recorded in Malta (-8.0%), Greece (-7.4%) and Latvia (-7.3%). In Italy, the deficit reached -7.2%, in Spain -6.9%, in France -6.5% and in Germany -3.7%.
On a quarterly basis, the seasonally adjusted government deficit was 3.6% in the euro area and 3.5% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the previous quarter.
Debt. At the end of 2021, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (18.1%), Luxembourg (24.4%) and Bulgaria (25.1%). Fourteen Member States had a government debt ratio above 60% of GDP. The highest ratios were recorded in Greece (193.3%), Italy (150.8%), Portugal (127.4%), Spain (118.4%), France (112.9%), Belgium (108.2%) and Cyprus (103.6%). In Germany, the debt reached 69.3%.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, seven Member States recorded an increase at the end of 2021 and twenty Member States recorded a decrease in their government debt in relation to GDP. The largest increases were observed in the Czech Republic (+4.2 percentage points), Malta (+3.6 pps.) and Slovakia (+3.3 pps.), while the largest decreases were observed in Greece (-13.1 pps.), Cyprus (-11.4 pps.) and Portugal (-7.8 pps.). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)