Seventeen countries including Finland out of the European Union's 27 member countries exceeded the bloc's self-imposed limits for budget deficits and public debt last year, reported dpa, quoting data published on Tuesday by the EU's statistics office Eurostat.
Seven of EU countries – Finland, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary and Austria exceeded both the deficit and debt limits in 2024.
Twelve countries had a deficit of at least 3% of their total economic output, breaking the bloc's limit on public expenditure.
The highest deficits were recorded in Romania with 9.3%, followed by Poland with 6.5% and France with 5.8%.
Only six EU countries – namely Luxembourg, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland and Portugal – earned more money than they spent last year and recorded a budget surplus.
Twelve EU countries exceeded the bloc's limit on government debt with a debt ratio higher than 60% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The countries with the highest debt burden are Greece (154.2%), Italy (134.9%) and France (113.2%).
Germany's debt ratio also exceeded the limit with 62.2% in 2024. The recorded deficit of 2.7% however stayed underneath the threshold.
The countries with the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were Estonia with 23.5%, Bulgaria with 23.8%, and Luxembourg with 26.3%.
- Finland
- EU
- Debt
- Deficit
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
