---
title: "Estonia among the countries with the biggest budget surplus"
id: "20972"
type: "post"
slug: "estonia-among-countries-biggest-budget-surplus"
published_at: "2016-10-11T00:30:59+00:00"
modified_at: "2016-10-11T00:31:34+00:00"
url: "https://estonianworld.com/business/estonia-among-countries-biggest-budget-surplus/"
markdown_url: "https://estonianworld.com/business/estonia-among-countries-biggest-budget-surplus.md"
excerpt: "Estonia is 11th among the countries that run the biggest budget surplus, according to the data from the World Economic Forum’s benchmark Global Competitiveness Report. […]"
taxonomy_category:
  - "Business"
taxonomy_post_format:
  - ""
publisher: "Estonian World"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Sten Hankewitz"
author_url: "https://estonianworld.com/author/stenhankewitz/"
---

# Estonia among the countries with the biggest budget surplus

![Image](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Estonian-euro-coins.jpg)

Euro coins bearing the map of Estonia.

By  [Sten Hankewitz](https://estonianworld.com/author/stenhankewitz/)
  ·  October 11, 2016  · [Business](https://estonianworld.com/category/business/)
 · 1 minute of reading

### Estonia is 11th among the countries that run the biggest budget surplus, according to the data from the World Economic Forum’s benchmark Global Competitiveness Report.

The [Business Insider magazine](http://www.businessinsider.com/wef-global-competitiveness-report-countries-with-biggest-budget-surpluses-2016-10/#2-norway--54-norways-government-presides-over-the-biggest-sovereign-wealth-fund-in-the-world-and-has-traditionally-run-enormous-surpluses-as-big-as-19-however-in-recent-years-the-oil-price-crisis-has-made-running-such-huge-surpluses-an-impossibility-it-still-manages-to-take-second-place-in-the-wefs-list-11)
 has listed 12 countries with the biggest budget surplus in the world, pointing out that “for many governments around the world ensuring that the books are balanced and that the country runs a surplus – where government incomes (from taxes etc) outstrip their outgoings (spending) – is still the number one goal”.

Estonia with its 0.5% surplus is in the 11th spot in the magazine’s list, just after Germany (0.6%) and before New Zealand (0.3%). “Estonia, which has positioned itself as a northern European tech hub in recent years, has run a surplus for the past two years, with its government focusing on fiscal discipline,” Business Insider notes.

The country with the biggest budget surplus in the world is Qatar (10.3%), followed by Norway (5.4%) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.9%).

I

Cover: Estonian euro coins (the image is illustrative).

## About The Author

![Avatar photo](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/local-avatars/15/1707599474-bpfull-100x100.jpg)

[Sten Hankewitz](https://estonianworld.com/author/stenhankewitz/)
Sten Hankewitz is a lifelong journalist and the Executive Editor at Estonian World. Having lived in Estonia, Spain, the UK and all around the US, he now resides in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He loves to write and besides working at Estonian World, he [writes books](https://estonianworld.com/culture/the-grand-illusion-estonian-worlds-sten-hankewitz-publishes-a-novel-about-growing-up-in-the-soviet-union/)
 and contributes to other outlets. He has strong convictions and shows them unashamedly. You can follow Sten on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@stenhankewitz)
, [X](https://twitter.com/stenhankewitz)
 and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/shankewitz/)
. You can also [email him](mailto:sten@estonianworld.com)
.