EU27 and euro area government expenditure-to-GDP ratios falling after 10 quarters of growth

In recent years Eurostat has significantly expanded the range of integrated quarterly data available on government finances, providing a timely and increasingly high quality picture of the evolution of government finances in the EU. These data reflect both flows (non-financial and financial) and debt aspects, and cover all European Union (EU27) countries.

This publication examines the main features of quarterly government accounts data during the lead-up to and stages of the economic and financial crisis. It is based on data transmitted by countries at the end of December 2010. Data are also presented for the euro area (EA16) countries.