Off the wire
• China's Ding beats Davis to reach second round at snooker worlds  • China's defense chief meets military commanders of Chile, Mongolia  • Turkish coast guards rescue 30 illegal Syrian migrants from sinking boat  • China's auto sales expected to exceed 25 mln units in 2015  • 1st LD Writethru: Nigeria's police chief axed, another appointed: presidency  • Kevin Ashton: IoT turns Internet into giant nervous system  • 1st LD-Writethru: Premier Li demands job creation  • Xi says increasingly confident in China-Pakistan ties  • Xenophobia violence re-erupts in South Africa  • Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record with 603 km per hour  
You are here: 　 Home

Eurozone, EU gov't deficit falls in 2014

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The government deficit of both the euro zone and the 28-nation European Union (EU) decreased in 2014, compared with the previous year, while government debt rose in both zones, the statistical office of the EU Eurostat said Tuesday.

In the euro area, the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 2.9 percent in 2013 to 2.4 percent in 2014, while it fell from 3.2 percent to 2.9 percent in the EU.

Among EU member states, Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Luxembourg registered a government surplus in 2014, and the lowest government deficits in percentage of GDP were recorded in Lithuania, Latvia and Romania.

Twelve member states had deficits higher than 3 percent of GDP, including Cyprus, Spain, Croatia and Britain.

According to European rules, euro zone government deficits must remain below 3 percent of GDP, and public debt must be maintained below 60 percent of the GDP. Endit