In 2023, eleven Member States of the European Union posted a public deficit in excess of 3% of national GDP, according to data published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Monday 22 April.
The countries reporting an excessive deficit are: Spain (-3.6%), Estonia (-3.4%), the Czech Republic (-3.7%), Belgium (-4.4%), Malta and Slovakia (-4.9%), Poland (-5.1%), France (-5.5%), Romania (-6.6%), Hungary (-6.7%) and Italy (-7.4%).
They will potentially be subject to an excessive deficit procedure when, in mid-June, the European Commission presents its socio-economic policy recommendations for 2024 and the arrangements for the gradual implementation of the reformed Stability Pact (see EUROPE 13348/8). A procedure had already been opened against Romania, but was ‘frozen’ when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
According to Eurostat, at euro area level, the public deficit/GDP ratio fell from 3.7% to 3.6% between 2022 and 2023, while it rose from 3.4% to 3.5% at EU level over the same period. In 2023, all Member States reported a deficit (-2.5% for Germany). Four countries recorded a budget surplus: Cyprus and Denmark (3.1% each), Ireland (1.7%) and Portugal (1.2%).
Eurostat also presented the seasonally adjusted deficit figures for the fourth quarter of 2023, which stood at 4.1% of GDP for the euro area and 4.0% for the EU. Of the 24 EU countries for which data are available, Malta (-9.4%), Poland (-7.4%), Slovakia (-6.8%) and Estonia (-6.5%) posted the highest ratios, while Bulgaria (+3.6%) and Ireland (1.3%) recorded a surplus.
The deficit remained high in France (-5.7%) and close to the regulatory threshold in Germany (-3.0%) and Spain (-3.1%).
Public debt. Again according to Eurostat, the ratio of public debt to GDP has fallen in the euro area, from 90.8% to 88.6% between 2022 and 2023, and in the EU, from 83.4% to 81.7% over the same period.
At the end of 2023, the lowest public debt/GDP ratios were observed in Estonia (19.6%), Bulgaria (23.1%), Luxembourg (25.7%), Denmark (29.3%), Sweden (31.2%) and Lithuania (38.3%).
Thirteen Member States have public debt in excess of 60% of GDP, with the highest ratios recorded in Greece (161.9%), Italy (137.3%), France (110.6%), Spain (107.7%) and Belgium (105.2%).
In Germany, public debt was close to the regulatory threshold (63.6%) at the end of 2023. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)