The Diplomat
Spain, at 11% of GDP, was the EU country with the highest budget deficit in 2020, (up from 2.9% the previous year), as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released yesterday by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.
In addition, debt reached €1.34 trillion, representing 120% of GDP -the fourth highest percentage in the EU- when, in 2019, it had stood at 95.5%.
All member states of the EU club recorded government deficits in 2020. After Spain came Malta (10.1%), Greece (9.7%), Italy (9.5%), Belgium (9.4%), France and Romania (9.2% in both countries), Austria (8.9%), Slovenia (8.4%), Hungary (8.1%), Croatia and Lithuania (7.4%) and Poland (7%).
With the exception of Denmark, with 1.1%, all the EU partners had a public deficit above 3%, a figure above which the Stability and Growth Pact considers it excessive.
In terms of public debt, the lowest ratio of public debt to GDP at the end of 2020 was in Estonia (18.2%), followed by Luxembourg (24.9%), Bulgaria (25%), the Czech Republic (38.1%) and Sweden (39.9%).
A total of 14 Member States had public debt ratios above 60% of GDP, the highest, ahead of Spain: Greece (205.6%), Italy (155.8%) and Portugal (133.6%). Following Spain (120%) were Cyprus (118.2%), France (115.7%) and Belgium (114.1%).
