Luxembourg, 01/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - Following the second notification by EU Member States on their data regarding government deficit and debt for 2001, Eurostat published the revised figures confirming the trends observed in the notification of March 2002. Having recorded a government surplus in 2000, the government balance of the Euro-zone and EU15 moved into deficit in 2001. Meanwhile government debt continued to fall in both zones in 2001, but at a slower rate than in 2000.
For the Euro-zone, the government balance moved from a surplus of 0.2% of GDP in 2000 to a deficit of 1.4% of GDP in 2001, and for the EU15 from a 1.0% surplus in 2000 to a 0.8% deficit in 2001. The impact of sales of UMTS licences on the government balance of the Euro-zone and EU15 was very significant in 2000, but much less so in 2001. Excluding UMTS sale proceeds, the government balance of the Euro-zone and EU15 would have been in deficit in 2000, whereas in 2001 the sales had almost no impact on the deficit. The largest deficits in 2001 were recorded in Portugal (4.1% of GDP), Germany (2.8%), and Italy (2.2%), while the largest surpluses were observed in Luxembourg (6.1%), Finland (4.9%), and Sweden (4.8%). Compared to the data published in the first notification of March 20026, there have been significant upward revisions in the 2001 deficit of Portugal, from 2.2% to 4.1% of GDP, and also in the deficit of previous years. In the 2001 deficit of Italy, revised from 1.4% to 2.2%, due to the application of Eurostat's recent decision on securisation operations undertaken by general government.
Government debt-to-GDP ratio continued to fall in all Member States in 2001, except in Portugal, Sweden, and Greece, where the ratio increased, and in France and Luxembourg, where it remained stable. There was an important upward revision in the debt of Greece for 2001, and also for previous years. Apart from Greece and Italy, two Member States also showed a ratio higher than 60% of GDP in 2001: Belgium (107.6%) and Austria (63.2%).
In 2001, government expenditure in the Euro-zone was equivalent to 48.2% of GDP, and revenue 46.7%. The respective figures for EU15 were 47.2% and 46.4%. Both the Euro-zone and EU15 registered an increase in government expenditure and a decrease in government revenue relative to GDP. This decrease was due to the fall in revenues from UMTS licence sales in 2001 as compared with 2000.