BERLIN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The German government has accumulated a budget surplus in 2019 for the eighth time in a row, according to updated figures released on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
The surplus amounted to 49.8 billion euros (54 billion U.S. dollars) last year, equivalent to 1.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). It was smaller than the record surplus of 62.4 billion euros registered in 2018, Destatis said.
The surplus in 2019 was smaller than in 2018 as the government's expenditure rose by 4.6 percent year-on-year, more strongly than its revenue (3.6 percent).
"The budgets of central government, state government, local government and social security funds continued to benefit especially from a favorable employment trend," Destatis noted. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars)
