Views: 1
During last 5 years the EU-wide GDP increased from about €14 trillion to present nearly €18 trillion. However, expenditure are still greater than the revenues: i.e. in percentage 49,2 contra 46; therefore government deficit is 3,2% instead of required three percent. E.g. in 2023, government deficit for the euro area was 3.6% of GDP (and for EU-27 it was 3.5%); government debt was 87.4% of GDP for the euro area and 80.8% for the EU instead of allowable 60 percent.
EU budget-2025
The joint text was agreed in negotiations with the European Parliament on 16 November 2024. The budget amounts to €199.44 billion in total commitments and €155.21 billion in total payments, including the appropriations foreseen for special instruments outside the MFF. Compared to the budget in the member states, the EU budget is relatively small: it has been on the level of €160-180 billion annually during 2021-2025 and serves 27 countries’ integration with a total population of around 450 million.
Germany, with a net contribution of €12.8bn, is the largest contributor to the EU budget, followed by France, Italy, Holland, Austria, Finland, Sweden, etc.; as a rule the member states pay about 0,5 present of GDP to the EU-wide budget. Some ten states are contributors and the rest are net recipients, e.g. Bulgaria and Lithuania are having about 3 percent of GDP from the EU financial sources. The economies of Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Romanian and Poland, meanwhile, receive about 2% of their GDP.
Comparable to the national budget of Denmark, which serves 5.6 million people, and is about 30% smaller than the budget of Poland, which serves 38 million. The EU also takes 75% of the customs duties, agricultural duties and sugar levies collected by each member state when goods enter the customs union. The EU spends the money on a wide range of projects, but about three quarters of the budget every year goes to two main areas: agriculture and development of poorer areas of the EU. Poland is the biggest net recipient of the EU budget (getting more back than it contributed in the first place), followed by Greece, Romania, Hungary and Portugal.
Source: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-annual-budget/2025-budget/
Financial situation
In 2024, all EU member states, except Denmark (+4.5%), Ireland and Cyprus (both +4.3%), Greece (+1.3%), Luxembourg (+1.0) and Portugal (+0.7%), reported a deficit. The highest deficits were recorded in Romania (‑9.3%), Poland (-6.6%), France (‑5.8%) and Slovakia (-5.3%). Twelve Member States had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP.
At the end of 2024, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (23.6%), Bulgaria (24.1%), Luxembourg (26.3%), Denmark (31.1%), Sweden (33.5%) and Lithuania (38.2%).
Twelve EU member states have had government debt ratios higher than “allowable” 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (153.6%), Italy (135.3%), France (113.0%), Belgium (104.7%) and Spain (101.8%).
In 2024, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 49.6% of GDP and government revenue to 46.5%. The figures for the EU were 49.2% and 46.0%, respectively. Government revenue and expenditure ratios increased both in the euro area and the EU, compared to 2023.
Source: Provision of deficit and debt data for 2024 – first notification, in: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-euro-indicators/w/2-22042025-ap
Other EU key statistic
Inflation rates –about 2,5%; GDP growth in 2024 -0,4%; unemployment rate – 5.7%; population – 449,3 mln.; food inflation rate – 3%.
The countries that pay more in taxes are: Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent) and Austria (55 percent) have the highest top rates. Hungary (15 percent), Estonia (22 percent), and the Czech Republic (23 percent) have the lowest top rates.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/home