General government accounts in 2015 - Investment declined again and the public deficit was reduced

In 2015, the public deficit as defined in the Maastricht Treaty amounted to €77.5 billion, or 3.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). It was reduced by €7.3 billion compared to 2014 due to higher revenues, greater than expenses. As a share of GDP, revenues increased by 0.1 percentage points and expenditure decreased by 0.3 percentage points. The deficit narrowed for local governments and contracted slightly for the State and social security organisations. The tax burden stood at 44.7% of GDP, down by 0.1 percentage points. The weight of public debt in GDP increased by 0.8 percentage points, reaching 96.1%.