The euro area budget deficit declined in 2024 but the government debt to gross domestic product rose marginally, data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday.
The government deficit as a percentage of GDP declined to 3.1 percent in 2024 from revised 3.5 percent in 2023.
In 2024, the government debt to GDP ratio slightly increased to 87.4 percent from 87.3 percent at the end of 2023.
Under the terms of the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, member states should keep their deficits and debt below certain limits.
A member state's government deficit may not exceed 3 percent of its GDP, while its debt may not exceed 60 percent of GDP.
The government deficit to GDP ratio in the EU decreased to 3.2 percent in 2024 from 3.5 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, government debt to GDP in the EU increased to 81.0 percent in 2024 from 80.8 percent in 2023.
All member states except Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal reported deficit. The highest deficits were recorded in Romania, Poland, France and Slovakia.
Twelve member states had deficits equal to or higher than 3 percent of GDP.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the general government debt in the euro area was made up of 84.0 percent debt securities, 13.5 percent loans and 2.5 percent currency and deposits.
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April 18, 2025 13:26 ET Some key data were released this week amid the escalating tariff war between the U.S. and other countries. Retail sales data from the U.S. revealed that consumers have started to prepare for a future increase in prices and factory activity has started to get hurt due to a fall in export demand. In Europe, the European Central Bank rate decision and inflation data from the U.K. were the highlights. News flow in Asia this week was dominated by the first quarter economic growth data from China.