Between January and March, the public deficit in the euro area was 2.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to 3.2% in the previous quarter and 3.1% in the same quarter of 2024, according to data published today by Eurostat.
Across the 27 Member States, the deficit eased from 3.3% in the last three months of 2024 and 3.0% in the first quarter of the previous year.
Portugal recorded the sixth-largest budget surplus between January and March, following Cyprus (5.6%), Greece (4.2%), Denmark (3.3%), Ireland (2.3%), and Malta (2.1%).
Conversely, Romania (-7.5%), France (-5.6%), Belgium (-5.5%), Austria, and Poland (both at -5.1%) exhibited the largest public deficits in the first quarter.
