Ten countries – including Malta – in the European Union registered a surplus in 2016, Eurostat reported yesterday.

Luxembourg (+1.6%), Malta (+1.0%), Sweden (+0.9%), Germany (+0.8%), Greece (+0.7%), the Czech Republic (+0.6%), Cyprus and the Netherlands (both +0.4%), Estonia and Lithuania (both +0.3%) registered a government surplus, while Bulgaria and Latvia reported a government balance.

The lowest government deficits as a percentage of GDP were recorded in Ireland (-0.6%), Croatia (-0.8%) and Denmark (-0.9%).

Four member states had deficits equal to or higher than 3.0 per cent of GDP: Spain (-4.5%), France (-3.4%), Romania and the United Kingdom (both 3.0%).

The EU’s statistical office said that government deficit and debt of both the eurozone and the EU28 decreased in relative terms compared with 2015.

In the eurozone, the government deficit to GDP ratio fell from 2.1 per cent in 2015 to 1.5 per cent in 2016, and in the EU28 from 2.4 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

In the eurozone the government debt to GDP ratio declined from 90.3 per cent at the end of 2015 to 89.2 per cent at the end of 2016, and in the EU28 from 84.9 per cent to 83.5 per cent.

Sixteen member states had government debt ratios higher than 60 per cent of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (179%), Italy (132.6%), Portugal (130.4%), Cyprus (107.8%) and Belgium (105.9%).