22/04/2020 14:50
In 2019, the government deficit of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU27 increased in relative terms compared with 2018, while the government debt declined in both zones. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio rose from 0.5% in 2018 to 0.6% in 2019, and in the EU27 from 0.4% to 0.6%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio decreased from 85.8% at the end of 2018 to 84.1% at the end of 2019, and in the EU27 from 79.6% to 77.8%, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
More specifically for Cyprus GDP increased to 21.944 bn Euro, and the total government surplus to 380 million Euro, or 1.7% of GDP. Public debt decreased to 20.958 bn Euro or 95.5% of GDP.
The GDP of Greece was 187.456 bn Euro in 2019 and the total government surplus 2.745 bn Euro or 1.5% of GDP. The total debt was 330.063 bn Euro at 176.6% of GDP.
In 2019, Denmark (+3.7%), Luxembourg (+2.2%), Bulgaria (+2.1%), Cyprus and the Netherlands (both +1.7%), Greece (+1.5%), Germany (+1.4%), Austria (+0.7%), Malta, Slovenia and Sweden (all +0.5%), Ireland and Croatia (both +0.4%), Czechia and Lithuania (both +0.3%), and Portugal (+0.2%) registered a government surplus. Two Member States had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP: France (-3.0%) and Romania (-4.3%).
At the end of 2019, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (8.4%), Bulgaria (20.4%), Luxembourg (22.1%), Czechia (30.8%) and Denmark (33.2%).
Eleven Member States had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (176.6%), Italy (134.8%), Portugal (117.7%), Belgium (98.6%), France (98.1%), Spain and Cyprus (both 95.5%). In 2019, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 47.1% of GDP and government revenue to 46.5%.
The figures for the EU27 were 46.7% and 46.2% respectively. In both zones the government expenditure ratio increased between 2018 and 2019, while the government revenue ratio remained stable.
Eurostat is expressing a reservation on the quality of the data reported by Denmark for the year 2019. This is due to the fact that the Danish Statistical Authorities provided significantly incomplete data for that year, which only allowed Eurostat to carry out very limited verification checks. In addition, a considerable statistical discrepancy for 2019 was observed.