Public debt also drops significantly – Key insights from new Eurostat report

Cyprus recorded the second-largest budget surplus among EU countries in 2024, according to figures released by Eurostat on Tuesday. The country tied with Ireland, while Denmark topped the list.

Eurostat’s report shows that most EU nations—21 out of 27—ran budget deficits last year, with 12 of them exceeding the 3% of GDP threshold. In terms of the broader picture, the eurozone’s average deficit fell to 3.1% in 2024 from 3.5% in 2023, while the EU average dropped slightly to 3.2%.

Among countries with surpluses:

• Denmark led with 4.5% of GDP
• Cyprus and Ireland followed closely with 4.3% each
• Greece reported a 1.3% surplus, Luxembourg 1%, and Portugal 0.7%

Conversely, the largest deficits were seen in:

• Romania (9.3%)
• Poland (6.6%)
• France (5.8%)
• Slovakia (5.3%)

In addition to its strong surplus, Cyprus made substantial progress in lowering its national debt. By the end of 2024, public debt had fallen to 65% of GDP, down from 73.6% in 2023. In monetary terms, the debt declined from €23.08 billion to €21.83 billion.

In contrast, eurozone debt levels slightly increased, rising from 87.3% to 87.4%, while across the entire EU, debt rose marginally from 80.8% to 81%. A total of 12 EU countries had debt levels above the 60% of GDP mark.

The countries with the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in 2024 were:

• Greece (153.6%)
• Italy (135.3%)
• France (113%)
• Belgium (104.7%)
• Spain (101.8%)

On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest debt ratios were found in:

• Estonia (23.6%)
• Bulgaria (24.1%)
• Luxembourg (26.3%)
• Denmark (31.1%)
• Sweden (33.5%)
• Lithuania (38.2%)