Cyprus recorded one of the strongest budget surpluses in the entire European Union in 2024, coming in second only to Denmark and defying the deficit trend seen across the euro area and the wider bloc, according to Eurostat.

The government deficit-to-GDP ratio for the euro area decreased from 3.5 per cent in 2023 to 3.1 per cent in 2024, the statistical office reported.

A similar trend was observed in the EU, where the ratio dropped from 3.4 per cent to 3.1 per cent over the same period.

However, the government debt-to-GDP ratio in the euro area slightly increased from 87.0 per cent at the end of 2023 to 87.1 per cent at the end of 2024.

For the EU, the debt ratio also nudged up from 80.5 per cent to 80.7 per cent.

In a stand-out performance in 2024, Cyprus reported a budget surplus of +4.1 per cent, the second highest reported figure across the entire EU, behind only Denmark‘s +4.5 per cent.

Only six member states managed to post a surplus during the year, with the remaining countries reporting a deficit.

The other countries reporting a surplus were Ireland (+4.0 per cent), Greece (+1.2 per cent), Luxembourg (+0.9 per cent), and Portugal (+0.5 per cent).

Most member states reported a deficit, with the highest recorded in Romania (-9.3 per cent), Poland (-6.5 per cent), France (-5.8 per cent), and Slovakia (-5.5 per cent).

Overall, twelve member states reported deficits that were equal to or higher than the 3 per cent of GDP threshold.

At the end of 2024, twelve member states had government debt ratios higher than the 60 per cent of GDP reference value.

The highest ratios were registered in Greece (154.2 per cent), Italy (134.9 per cent), France (113.2 per cent), Belgium (103.9 per cent), and Spain (101.6 per cent).

The lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (23.5 per cent), Bulgaria (23.8 per cent), Luxembourg (26.3 per cent), Denmark (30.5 per cent), Sweden (34.0 per cent), and Lithuania (38.0 per cent).

In terms of fiscal aggregates, the government total expenditure to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 49.5 per cent of GDP in 2024, while the government total revenue to GDP ratio was 46.4 per cent.

The figures for the EU were 49.2 per cent for expenditure and 46.0 per cent for revenue, respectively.

Finally, Eurostat reported that government revenue and expenditure ratios increased in 2024 compared to 2023 in both the euro area and the EU.