In the fourth quarter of 2022, the general government deficit and gross debt-to-GDP ratios were 4.7% and 91.6% respectively in the euro area, compared with 4.6% and 93.0% in the third quarter, according to data released by the Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 21 April.
At the EU level, these ratios increased to 4.5% of GDP for the deficit and 84.0% of GDP, compared with 4.2% and 85.1% in the previous quarter.
Measures to mitigate the impact of high energy prices had a strong impact on government balances in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, Eurostat finds.
Of the twenty-three countries for which data are available, three Member States recorded a budget surplus: Denmark (+3.3%), Ireland (+1.3%) and Bulgaria (+0.9%). The highest deficits were observed in Hungary (-8.7%), Malta (-7.9%) and Romania (-7.7%). In Germany, the deficit reached -3.2%, in France -6.1% and in Spain -7.6%.
Debt. For both the euro area and the EU, the decline in the ratio of public debt to GDP is due to economic growth, which prevails over the increase in public debt in absolute terms.
At the end of 2022, the highest ratios of public debt to GDP were recorded in Greece (171.3%), Italy (144.4%), Portugal (113.9%), Spain (113.2%), France (111.6%) and Belgium (105.1%), while the lowest were observed in Estonia (18.4%), Bulgaria (22.9%) and Luxembourg (24.6%). In Germany, public debt has been reduced to 66.3% of national GDP. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)