General government accounts in 2014 – Less investment and the deficit down slightly

In 2014, the public deficit according to the Maastricht definition totalled 84.8 billion euros, or 4% of GDP. Compared to 2013, it was reduced by 1.6 billion euros due to revenue increasing a little faster than expenditure. As a share of GDP, government revenue increased by 0.6 points and expenditure by 0.5 points. The public deficit was reduced particularly for local governments while it increased slightly for central government. The tax burden stood at 44.9%, with a moderate increase (0.2 points) compared to 2013. The weight of public debt in GDP increased by 3.3 percentage points to 95.6%.