The seasonally adjusted government deficit has decreased, both in the European Union and in the euro area, in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of the previous year.
A similar trend was also recorded in Romania, the country with the highest deficit in the EU, according to data published on Monday by Eurostat.
In the European Union, the seasonally adjusted government deficit decreased from 3.3% of GDP in Q4 2024 to 2.9% of GDP in Q1 2025. In Romania, the deficit decreased from 9.6% of GDP in Q4 2024 to 7.5% of GDP in Q1 2025.
Provisional Eurostat data shows that Romania leads the ranking of member countries with the largest government deficits, with a 7.5% GDP deficit, followed by France at 5.6% of GDP, and Belgium at 5.5% of GDP.
On the opposite end is Cyprus, a country that recorded a government surplus of 5.6% of GDP in the first quarter of this year, followed by Greece with a surplus of 4.2% of GDP.
Eurostat also published data on the public debt of member countries in the first quarter of this year. According to this data, the debt-to-GDP ratio increased in the euro area to 88%, up from 87.4% in the last quarter of the previous year, and in the EU it increased from 81% to 81.8%.
Among member states, however, from one quarter to another, 16 member states saw an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio, with the largest increases recorded in Austria and Slovakia (both with an increase of 3.5 percentage points), Slovenia (2.9 percentage points), and Italy (2.5 percentage points). In Romania, the debt-to-GDP ratio increased by one percentage point from one quarter to another.
Compared to the situation in the first quarter of the previous year, 13 member states saw an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio, with the largest increases recorded in Poland (6.1 percentage points), Finland (5.1 percentage points), Austria, and Romania (both with an increase of 4.1 percentage points).
At the end of the first quarter, the member countries with the lowest share of government debt in GDP were: Bulgaria (23.9%), Estonia (24.1%), and Luxembourg (26.1%). On the other hand, the member countries with the highest share of government debt in GDP were Greece (152.5%), Italy (137.9%), and France (114.1%).
Regarding Romania, Eurostat data shows that government debt rose to 998.196 billion lei, or 55.8% of GDP, in the first quarter of this year, from 963.941 billion lei, or 54.8% of GDP, in the last quarter of the previous year, and 845.528 billion lei, or 51.7% of GDP in the first quarter of 2024.