Belgium ended last year with a budget deficit of 5.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) – making it the largest in the eurozone, according to figures released on Wednesday by the European statistics agency Eurostat.
Belgium's budget deficit was just slightly larger than that of France (5.1% of GDP), with Slovakia following in third place (4.5%).
The average for eurozone countries stood at 2.9%. In total, this corresponds to a combined deficit of over €462 billion (of which €33 billion in Belgium).
When it comes to public debt, Belgium is not the worst performer: Belgian public debt stood at 107.9% of GDP at the end of last year, compared with 103.9% at the end of 2024.
Greece (146.1%), Italy (137.1%) and France (115.6%) have even higher debt levels. However, Belgium’s debt rose the most among that group of countries.
At the end of last year, public debt in the eurozone averaged 87.8%, or over €13.9 trillion. In Belgium, the figure stood at over €692 billion.
At the start of this year, Bulgaria became the 21st member of the eurozone.
