In 2018, the government deficit and debt of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in relative terms compared with 2017. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio fell from 0.9% in 2017 to 0.5% in 2018, and in the EU28 from 1.0% to 0.7%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio declined from 87.8% at the end of 2017 to 85.9% at the end of 2018, and in the EU28 from 82.1% to 80.4%, Eurostat report showed.

In 2018, Luxembourg (+2.7%), Germany and Malta (both +1.9%), Bulgaria (+1.8%), the Netherlands (+1.5%), Czechia (+1.1%), Greece (+1.0%), Denmark, Slovenia and Sweden (all +0.8%), Lithuania (+0.6%), Croatia (+0.3%), Austria (+0.2%) and Ireland (+0.1%) registered a government surplus. Two Member States had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP: Romania (-3.0%) and Cyprus (-4.4%). At the end of 2018, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (8.4%), Luxembourg (21.0%), Bulgaria (22.3%), Czechia (32.6%), Lithuania (34.1%) and Denmark (34.2%). Fourteen Member States had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (181.2%), Italy (134.8%), Portugal (122.2%), Cyprus (100.6%), Belgium (100.0%), France (98.4%) and Spain (97.6%).

The full report can be seen HERE.

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