BRUSSELS, April 22 (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spain has closed the 2023 financial year with a public debt to GDP ratio of 107.7%, the fourth highest figure of the EU countries behind Greece (161.9%), Italy (137.3% ) and France (110.6%), while the deficit stands at 3.6%, according to data from the European statistical office, Eurostat, published this Monday and based on the figures communicated by the Member States in the first notification 2024, for the application of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP).

Both data are above the thresholds of 60% and 3%, respectively, which will be applied again after the fiscal rules have remained frozen for four years due to the pandemic. However, they reveal an improvement compared to the end of 2022, when the Spanish public debt rose to 111.6% and the deficit to 4.7%.

Regarding public spending, this fell from 47.4% at the end of 2022 to 46.4 in 2023, while Government income experienced a slight rebound from 42.6% to 42.8%.

In the eurozone, the ratio between public deficit and GDP decreased from 3.7% in 2022 to 3.6% in 2023, while in the EU as a whole it increased from 3.4% to 3.5%. In the euro area, the public debt-to-GDP ratio also decreased from 90.8% at the end of 2022 to 88.6% at the end of 2023, and in the EU, from 83.4% to 81.7%.

In 2023, public spending in the euro area was equivalent to 50.0% of GDP and public revenues to 46.4%, when the figures for the EU were 49.4% and 45.9%, respectively. Public revenue and expenditure ratios decreased in both the euro area and the EU, compared to 2022.