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The deficit of the consolidated state budget, presented as a ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP), amounted to 4 percent in the EU and 4.1 percent in the euro area in the fourth quarter of last year. Compared to the previous, third quarter, the deficit of the consolidated state budget grew by 0.5 percentage points both in the EU and in the monetary union. This is revealed by the latest seasonally adjusted data of Eurostat, published on the website of the statistical agency, writes economynews.bg.
Seasonally adjusted government revenues and expenditures
In the fourth quarter, total government revenues in the EU were 46.2 percent of GDP, the same as in the third quarter. Seasonally adjusted total revenues in the EU increased by around €30 billion compared to the third quarter.
Total government spending in the EU accounted for 50.2 percent of GDP, up from 49.7 percent of GDP in the previous quarter. Seasonally adjusted total spending increased by around €54 billion compared to the previous quarter.
For the same period, total government revenue in the euro area was 46.6 percent of GDP, down slightly from the third quarter (46.7 percent). This was due to an increase in seasonally adjusted total government revenue in absolute terms, as well as a relatively stronger increase in nominal GDP.
Seasonally adjusted total revenue in the euro area rose by around €21 billion compared to the third quarter of 2023. Total government spending in the euro area accounted for 50.7 percent of GDP, or 0.5 percentage points over the previous quarter, due to an increase of seasonally adjusted total government spending by around €42 billion.
In the EU, total government revenue was 46.2 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023, unchanged from the previous quarter. Seasonally adjusted total revenues in the EU jumped by around €30 billion compared to the third quarter. Total government spending in the EU was 50.2 percent of GDP, up from 49.7 percent of GDP in the previous quarter. Seasonally adjusted total spending increased by around €54 billion compared to the previous quarter.
Bulgaria registered a government surplus of 3.6 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, seasonally adjusted Eurostat data also show. This is the first quarterly surplus for the country’s state budget for 2023, as a deficit of 5.5 percent of GDP was reported in the third quarter.
In October – December 2023, Bulgaria recorded the largest surplus of the consolidated state budget, expressed as a share of GDP, of all EU countries for which data is available. After our country, Denmark (+2.6 percent of GDP) and Ireland (+1.3 percent of GDP) were the countries with the largest state budget surpluses in the EU.
Deficit of the consolidated state budget throughout 2023.
The ratio of the budget deficit to GDP for the whole of 2023 in the EU has reached 3.5 percent, while in 2022 it was 3.4 percent. Over the same period in the euro area, the budget deficit/GDP ratio fell from 3.7 percent in 2022 to 3.6 percent last year.
In 2023, all EU member states, with the exception of Cyprus and Denmark (+3.1 percent each), Ireland (+1.7 percent) and Portugal (+1.2 percent), reported deficits of their consolidated state budgets, and the largest were in Italy (-7.4 percent), Hungary (-6.7 percent) and Romania (-6.6 percent). Eleven EU member states had deficits higher than 3 percent of GDP.
In Bulgaria, the government deficit decreased to BGN 3.454 billion in 2023 (-1.9 percent of GDP), compared to a deficit of BGN 4.863 billion in 2022 (-2.9 percent of GDP).
Earlier today, the preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) revealed that in Bulgaria, the “State Government” institutional sector had a budget deficit of BGN 3.454 billion, or 1.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
The deficit in the Central Government sub-sector is BGN 3.375 billion, or 1.8 percent of GDP.
The “Local Government” sub-sector realized a deficit of BGN -201 million, and the “Social Insurance Funds” sub-sector a surplus of BGN 121 million, NSI reported.
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