In the third quarter of 2025, the seasonally adjusted general government deficit to GDP stood at 3.2% in the euro area and in the European Union, up on the ratios of 2.8% and 2.9% recorded for the euro area and the EU respectively in the second quarter, according to data published by the EU’s statistical office (Eurostat) on Thursday 22 January.
Of the 26 countries (all of them except Italy) for which data is available, the highest deficits were seen in Romania (-7.3% of GDP), Poland (-5.8%) and Belgium (-5.7%), while budget surpluses were recorded in Denmark (3.3% of GDP), Greece (3.2%), Cyprus (2.4%) and Ireland (1.2%).
The deficit was still high in France (-5.4% of GDP), contained in Germany (-2.8%) and under control in Spain (-2.2%).
Debt. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, again according to Eurostat, the ratio of government debt to GDP stood at 88.5% in the euro area, up on the previous quarter (88.2%). In the EU, this ratio also increased, from 81.9% to 82.1% over this period.
The highest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Greece (149.7%), Italy (137.8%), France (117.7%), Belgium (107.1%) and Spain (103.2%), while the lowest were in Estonia (22.9%), Luxembourg (27.9%), Bulgaria (28.4%) and Denmark (29.7%). German government debt reached 63.0% of national GDP. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)