In terms of GDP, only Italy “achieved” a larger budget deficit than Hungary’s in 2023 among the member states of the European Union.
Four EU member states achieved a budget surplus in 2023: government revenues in Cyprus and Denmark exceeded expenditures by 3.1 percent of GDP, in Ireland by 1.7 percent, and in Portugal by 1.2 percent, according to Eurostat’s summary. The other member states ended the year with a deficit. The largest GDP deficit of 7.4 percent is the “merit” of the Italian government, Hungary was the second worst economy with 6.7 percent, and Romania’s deficit was the third largest at 6.6 percent.
The budget deficit in proportion to GDP in Hungary exceeded 6 percent in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. (data respectively: minus 7.6 percent, minus 7.2 percent, minus 6.2 percent, minus 6.7 percent). Only Italy and Romania were capable of this “feat”. The “union deficit” calculated from the budgets of the member states was 6.7 percent in 2020, 4.7 percent in 2021, 3.4 percent in 2022, and 3.5 percent in 2023.
Of course, the deficit had to be covered by loans, which is shown by the significant increase in the state debt: the Hungarian state debt was 38,393 billion forints at the end of 2020, but at the end of 2023 it was already 55,134 billion forints, which means an increase of 44 percent. At the same time, this indicator decreased in relation to GDP: from 79.3 percent to 73.5 percent. (In terms of GDP, the EU debt ratio also decreased, from 90.0 percent to 81.7 percent.)
