| Field Listing :: Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) |
| This entry records the difference between national government revenues and expenditures, expressed as a percent of GDP. A positive (+) number indicates that revenues exceeded expenditures (a budget surplus), while a negative (-) number indicates the reverse (a budget deficit). Normalizing the data, by dividing the budget balance by GDP, enables easy comparisons across countries and indicates whether a national government saves or borrows money. Countries with high budget deficits (relative to their GDPs) generally have more difficulty raising funds to finance expenditures, than those with lower deficits. | |
| Country Comparison to the World |
Country |
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)(% of GDP) |
|---|
| Afghanistan | -9.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Albania | -3.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Algeria | -2.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| American Samoa | -6.1% of GDP (FY07) |
| Angola | 7.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Anguilla | 0.2% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Antigua and Barbuda | -5.4% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Argentina | -1.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Armenia | -3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Aruba | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Australia | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Austria | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Azerbaijan | -17.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bahamas, The | -2.1% of GDP (FY11/12 est.) |
| Bahrain | -3.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bangladesh | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Barbados | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Belarus | 1.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Belgium | -4.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Belize | -3.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Benin | -4.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bhutan | -5.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bolivia | 0.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | -3.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Botswana | -3.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Brazil | 3.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| British Virgin Islands | 0% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Brunei | -2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Bulgaria | -2.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Burkina Faso | -3.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Burma | -4.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Burundi | -2.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cambodia | -5.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cameroon | -1.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Canada | -5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cape Verde | -10.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cayman Islands | -2.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Central African Republic | -1.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Chad | -10.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Chile | 1.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| China | -1.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Colombia | -2.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Comoros | -1.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the | -7.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Congo, Republic of the | 23% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cook Islands | 1% of GDP (FY05/06) |
| Costa Rica | -5.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cote d'Ivoire | -7.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Croatia | 6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cuba | -4.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Curacao | -0.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Cyprus | -6.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Czech Republic | -3.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Denmark | -2.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Djibouti | -2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Dominica | 7.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Dominican Republic | -2.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Ecuador | -5.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Egypt | -9.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| El Salvador | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Eritrea | -11.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Estonia | -0.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Ethiopia | -2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | -5% of GDP (FY09/10) |
| Faroe Islands | -3.6% of GDP (2010) |
| Fiji | -3.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Finland | -0.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| France | -5.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| French Polynesia | 3.6% of GDP (1999) |
| Gabon | 6.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Gambia, The | -4.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Georgia | -4.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Germany | -1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Ghana | -4.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Gibraltar | 2.1% of GDP (2008 est.) |
| Greece | -9.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Greenland | 0% of GDP (2010) |
| Grenada | -4.9% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Guam | -3.9% of GDP (2002 est.) |
| Guatemala | -2.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Guernsey | 1.2% of GDP (2005) |
| Guinea | -4.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Guinea-Bissau | -2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Guyana | -3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Haiti | -2.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Honduras | -3.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Hong Kong | 3.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Hungary |
4.2% of GDP
note: in 2011, the Government decided to redirect funds from the country's obligatory private pension scheme into state coffers in order to pay off government debt, effectively renationalizing the private pension system; the 2.9% deficit shown here does not include this change; including this change would result in a budget surplus of 3.6%; the EU launched an Excessive Deficit Procedure against Hungary in January 2012, because it expects the 2013 deficit to reach 3.7%; the primary criticism of Hungary's deficit reductions in 2011 and 2012 was that they were not achieved in a sustainable manner (2011 est.) |
| Iceland | -4.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| India | -6.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Indonesia | -1.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Iran | 8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Iraq | -11.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Ireland | -10.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Isle of Man | 0.8% of GDP (FY05/06 est.) |
| Israel | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Italy | -3.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Jamaica | -6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Japan | -8.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Jersey | -0.4% of GDP (2005) |
| Jordan | -12.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kazakhstan | -2.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kenya | -5.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kiribati | -2.5% of GDP (FY05) |
| Korea, North | -0.4% of GDP (2007 est.) |
| Korea, South | 2.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kosovo | -5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kuwait | 28.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Kyrgyzstan | -4.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Laos | -2.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Latvia | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Lebanon | -6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Lesotho | -12.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Liberia | -1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Libya | -37.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Liechtenstein | 2.7% of GDP (2008 est.) |
| Lithuania | -4.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Luxembourg | -0.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Macau | 43% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Macedonia | -2.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Madagascar | -0.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Malawi | -1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Malaysia | -5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Maldives | -14.5% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Mali | -4.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Malta | 12.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Marshall Islands | NA% of GDP (2008) |
| Mauritania | -1.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Mauritius | -4.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Mexico | -2.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | 5.6% of GDP (FY07 est.) |
| Moldova | -0.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Monaco | -1.9% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Mongolia | -0.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Montenegro | -4.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Morocco | -5.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Mozambique | -3.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Namibia | -9.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Nepal | -7.5% of GDP (FY11) |
| Netherlands | -4.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| New Caledonia | -2.3% of GDP (2001 est.) |
| New Zealand | -8.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Nicaragua | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Niger | -2.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Nigeria | -3.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Niue | -12.6% of GDP (FY04/05) |
| Northern Mariana Islands | -4.7% of GDP (FY91/92) |
| Norway | 14.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Oman | 10% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Pakistan | -6.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Palau | 9.3% of GDP (2008 est.) |
| Panama | -2.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Papua New Guinea | -0.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Paraguay | 0.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Peru | 1.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Philippines | -2.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Poland | -1.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Portugal | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Puerto Rico | -3.1% of GDP (FY99/00) |
| Qatar | 13.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Romania | -4.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Russia | 0.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Rwanda | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | -5.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Saint Lucia | -3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | -10.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Samoa | -6.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| San Marino | -3.6% of GDP (2009) |
| Sao Tome and Principe | -17.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Saudi Arabia | 14.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Senegal | -6.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Serbia | -4.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Seychelles | 1.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Sierra Leone | -3.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Singapore | 1.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Slovakia | -5.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Slovenia | -4.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Solomon Islands | 6.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| South Africa | -3.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Spain | -8.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Sri Lanka | -7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Sudan | -4.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Suriname | -3% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Svalbard | NA% of GDP |
| Swaziland | -12.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Sweden | 0.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Switzerland | 0.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Syria | -9.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Taiwan | -3.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Tajikistan | 0.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Tanzania | -6.5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Thailand | -1.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Timor-Leste | 30.1% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Togo | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Tonga | 0% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | -3.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Tunisia | -5.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Turkey | -1.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Turkmenistan | 0.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Tuvalu | -4.3% of GDP (2006) |
| Uganda | -5.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Ukraine | -3.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| United Arab Emirates | 5% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| United Kingdom | -8.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| United States | -8.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Uruguay | -0.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Uzbekistan | 0.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Vanuatu | 1.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Venezuela | -4.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Vietnam | -2.4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| West Bank | -16.3% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| World | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Yemen | -9.9% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Zambia | -4% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Zimbabwe | NA% of GDP (2010 est.) |