Press Release - Provision of deficit and debt data for 2016 - second notification Euro area and EU28 government deficit at 1.5% and 1.7% of GDP respectively Government debt at 88.9% and 83.2%
In 2016, the government deficit and debt of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in relative terms compared with 2015. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio fell from 2.1% in 2015 to 1.5% in 2016, and in the EU28 from 2.4% to 1.7%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio declined from 89.9% at the end of 2015 to 88.9% at the end of 2016, and in the EU28 from 84.5% to 83.2%.
In this release, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, is providing government deficit and debt data based on figures reported in the second 2017 notification by EU Member States for the years 2013-2016, for the application of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP). This notification is based on the ESA 2010 system of national accounts. This release also includes data on government expenditure and revenue.
In 2016, Luxembourg (+1.6%), Malta and Sweden (both +1.1%), Germany (+0.8%), the Czech Republic (+0.7%), Greece and Cyprus (both +0.5%), the Netherlands (+0.4%) and Lithuania (+0.3%) registered a government surplus, while Latvia and Bulgaria reported a government balance. The lowest government deficits as a percentage of GDP were recorded in Estonia (-0.3%), Denmark (-0.6%), Ireland (-0.7%) and Croatia (-0.9%). Three Member States had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP: Spain (-4.5%), France (-3.4%) and Romania (-3.0%).
At the end of 2016, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (9.4%), Luxembourg (20.8%), Bulgaria (29.0%), the Czech Republic (36.8%), Romania (37.6%) and Denmark (37.7%). Sixteen Member States had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (180.8%), Italy (132.0%), Portugal (130.1%), Cyprus (107.1%) and Belgium (105.7%).
In 2016, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 47.6% of GDP and government revenue to 46.1%. The figures for the EU28 were 46.3% and 44.7% respectively. In both zones, the government expenditure ratio decreased between 2015 and 2016, while the government revenue ratio decreased in the euro area and increased in the EU28.
page source http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
