Croatia’s budget deficit, expressed as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), was slightly above the European average in the second quarter, exceeding the prescribed ‘ceiling’ of three percent, according to preliminary data from Eurostat released on Tuesday.
At the level of the 20-member eurozone, the seasonally adjusted budget deficit as a share of GDP amounted to three percent in the second quarter, the same as in the previous three months, remaining at the lowest level since the summer of 2022, according to calculations by the European statistical office.
Across the EU, the deficit was 3.1 percent, up by 0.2 percentage points from the previous three months, the tables show.
Public spending in the eurozone increased in the second quarter, according to seasonally adjusted data, to 49.2 percent of GDP, up from 48.8 percent in the first three months, with an increase in expenditures of around 25 billion euros.
At the EU level, it rose from 48.5 percent to 48.9 percent of GDP, reflecting an increase in expenditures of around 34 billion euros.
Budget revenue in the eurozone also increased in the second quarter, according to seasonally adjusted data, by about 25 billion euros compared to the previous three months. Its share of GDP was 46.2 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than in the previous three months.
In the EU, revenue rose by about 22 billion euros, with its share of GDP reaching 45.7 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter.
The Surplus Seven
According to the seasonally adjusted data available to Eurostat, Poland had the largest budget deficit as a share of GDP in the second quarter, at 8.1 percent.
Romania followed with a deficit of 7.1 percent of GDP. France and Slovakia were close, with deficits of 5.5 percent, and Finland with 5.4 percent.
Croatia recorded a deficit of 3.4 percent of GDP in the second quarter of this year, according to the Eurostat report, meaning it exceeded the prescribed ceiling of three percent of GDP for the first time since the spring of the pandemic in 2021. In the first quarter, it was 1.2 percent of GDP.
The smallest deficit as a share of GDP was recorded in Latvia and Sweden, at 1.3 percent, and in Lithuania, where it was 1.4 percent.
Seven countries reported budget surpluses, with the largest in Cyprus, reaching 4.6 percent of GDP.
Denmark and Ireland followed, with surpluses of 3.3 and 3.1 percent of GDP, respectively. Portugal and Greece were close, with surpluses of 2.6 and 1.3 percent, respectively, as were the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where the surplus amounted to 0.9 and 0.5 percent, according to the tables.