Portugal produces budget surplus in 2019, one of 16 EU States
Portugal went from a deficit of 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 to a public surplus of 0.2% of GDP.
Portugal was one of the 16 member states that ended 2019 with a surplus in the public accounts balance, with the euro area and the European Union (EU) recording deficits of 0.6% of GDP, according to Eurostat.
The European statistical office said on Wednesday that Portugal went from a deficit of 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 to a public surplus of 0.2% of GDP.
The ratio of the public deficit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose in the euro area from 0.5% in 2018 to 0.6% in 2019, and in the EU from 0.4% to 0.6%.
Portugal saw its weight of public debt fall from 122% to 117.7% of GDP, remaining, however, the third-largest among the member states.
Regarding public accounts, in 2019, Denmark (+3.7%), Luxembourg (+2.2%), Bulgaria (+2.1%), Cyprus and the Netherlands (+1.7% each), Greece (+1.5%), Germany (+1.4%), Austria (+0.7%), Malta, Slovakia and Sweden (+0.5% each), Ireland and Croatia (+0.4% each), the Czech Republic and Lithuania (+0.3% each) and Portugal (+0.2%) showed surpluses.
Two member states reached the end of 2019 with deficits of 3% of GDP or more, breaking EU rules: France (-3.0%) and Romania (-4.3%).
Regarding public debt, the euro area fell from 85.6% of GDP at the end of 2018 to 84.1% of GDP in 2019.
EU public debt dropped from 79.6% to 77.8% of GDP.
At the end of 2019, the lowest public debt to GDP ratios was observed in Estonia (8.4%), Bulgaria (20.4%), Luxembourg (22.1%), the Czech Republic (30.8%) and Denmark (33.2%).
Eleven member states had a higher weight of public debt than 60% of GDP, the highest being Greece (176.6%), Italy (134.8%), Portugal (117.7%), Belgium (98.6%), France (98.1%) and Cyprus (95.5%).
