Data released today by the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat, indicates that in the second quarter of 2025, the general government deficit ratio (seasonally adjusted) relative to GDP stood at 2.7% in the euro area and 2.9% across the 27 member states.
On a year-over-year comparison, in the second quarter of 2025 relative to the same period last year, there was an improvement both in the eurozone (from -3.1% in the second quarter of 2024) and in the EU (-3.2% of GDP).
In the quarter-on-quarter variation, in the second quarter of 2025, the eurozone’s deficit ratios relative to GDP remained unchanged, while the EU’s deficit ratio relative to GDP slightly increased from 2.8% registered in the previous quarter.
By member state, Portugal recorded the fifth largest budget surplus, at 0.7% of GDP, following Cyprus (3.6% of GDP), Denmark (2.9% of GDP), Greece (2.7% of GDP), and Ireland (1.2% of GDP).
According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2025, total public revenues in the single currency area rose to 46.7% of GDP, an increase from the 46.5% recorded in the first quarter of this year, mainly due to “a rise in total seasonally adjusted public revenues in absolute terms of about 21 billion euros.”
Meanwhile, total public expenditures in the zone reached 49.4% of GDP, an increase from the previous quarter (49.2% of GDP), driven by “a rise in seasonally adjusted total public expenditures of about 21 billion euros.”
In the EU, total public revenue was 46.2% of GDP in the second quarter of 2025, up from 46.1% of GDP in the first quarter of 2025, due to an increase of about 24 billion euros compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Total public expenditure in the EU was 49.1% of GDP, up from 48.9% of GDP in the previous quarter, due to an increase of about 30 billion euros compared to the previous quarter.
