In the fourth quarter of 2024, the seasonally-adjusted general government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 3.2% in the euro area and 3.4% in the European Union, according to data published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Tuesday 22 April.
Of the 26 Member States (all except Italy) for which data is available, six recorded a budget surplus, with the highest surpluses in Cyprus (3.4%), Denmark (2.9%) and Greece (2.2%).
By contrast, the largest deficits relative to GDP were recorded in Malta (-10.7%), Romania (-9.9%) and Slovakia (-8.8%). In France, the deficit was -6.1% of GDP, in Spain -3.3% and in Germany -2.5%.
Public debt. At the end of 2024, again according to Eurostat, the general government gross debt to GDP ratio stood at 87.4% in the euro area, compared with 88.1% at the end of the third quarter of 2024.
In the EU, this ratio also fell, from 81.6% to 81.0%.
The highest ratios were recorded in Greece (153.6% of GDP), Italy (135.3%), France (113.0%), Belgium (104.7%) and Spain (101.8%), while the lowest were observed in Estonia (23.6%), Bulgaria (24.1%) and Luxembourg (26.3%). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)