Austria with shortage – EU -Neusing – nevertheless – above the maximum limit

In 2024, the average new debt of the EU countries was 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as the EU statistics agency Eurostat announced. The value was 0.3 percentage points below that from 2023. The Austrian deficit rose to 4.7 percent.

This means that both the average and the Austrian new debt were still above the maximum brand of a maximum of three percent of the European Union.

Austria’s fault above average
The average total debt in the EU was 81 percent of GDP. A debt level of 81.8 percent was given for Austria. The EU rules provide a maximum total debt of 60 percent.

Here you can see the budget surplus or the EU countries deficit in comparison:

Romania made most of the debt
As Eurostat announced, Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal 2024 made no new debts. Romania with 9.3 percent, Poland with 6.6 percent and France at 5.8 percent, stated the highest debt rates.

In total, new debt in twelve EU countries was at least three percent. Germany remained under the permitted maximum figure of 3 percent with 2.8 percent.

EU procedures against different countries
The EU had already started a shortage procedure against France last June because Paris violated the debt rules. In 2023, France’s new debt was 5.5 percent of GDP. The EU committee has also started a shortage procedure against Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

The EU Ministers of Finance called these countries to push their new debt among three percent of GDP and have recommended different time frames. The French government has announced that they want to achieve this goal by 2029.