Last year four EU member states recorded a surplus -- Denmark (+1.5%), Luxembourg (+1.4%), Estonia (+0.7%) and Germany (+0.3%).
Croatia's budget deficit of 5.6% of GDP placed it in a group of 14 EU countries with a budget deficit of 3% or more. Its deficit decreased by 0.1 percentage points compared with April estimates, as reported by the State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Tuesday.
The highest budget deficit in 2014 was registered in Cyprus (-8.9%), followed by Portugal (-7.2%), Spain (-5.9%), Bulgaria (-5.8%), the United Kingdom (-5.7%), Croatia (-5.6%) and Slovenia (-5.0%).
The lowest government deficits in percentage of GDP were recorded in Lithuania (-0.7%), Romania (-1.4%), Latvia (-1.5%), Sweden (-1.7%) and the Czech Republic (-1.9%).
In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 3.0% in 2013 to 2.6% in 2014, and in the EU28 from 3.3% to 3.0%, Eurostat noted.
In 2014, the government deficit in the EU28 decreased in absolute terms compared with 2013, while the government debt rose. The government debt to GDP ratio increased in the EU28 from 85.5% to 86.8% in 2014.
The lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (10.4%), Luxembourg (23.0%), Bulgaria (27.0%), Romania (39.9%), Latvia (40.6%) and Lithuania (40.7%).
Croatia is among 16 member states with government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP. The April report noted Croatia's public debt at 85% of GDP. The highest debt registered is in Greece (178.6%), followed by Italy (132.3%), Portugal (130.2%), Cyprus (108.2%), Ireland (107.5%), and Belgium (106.7%).