structural deficit

noun

That portion of the public sector deficit which exists even when the economy is at potential. Government spending beyond government revenues at times of normal, predictable economic activity, as opposed to a cyclical deficit.

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Meanings

nounstructural deficit (plural structural deficits)

plural structural deficits

  1. economicsThat portion of the public sector deficit which exists even when the economy is at potential. Government spending beyond government revenues at times of normal, predictable economic activity, as opposed to a cyclical deficit.

    Canadian Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page maintained that the government has a structural budget deficit which will only decline gradually to C$13.7 billion in 2014/15 in spite of C$17.6 billion in cost savings announced by the government last week.

    2010 March 11, Nirmala Menon, “Canada Budget Officer Still Sees Structural Deficit”, in Wall Street Journal Newswire

Origin

From structural + deficit.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French déficit structurel
  • déficit structurelTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

structural deficit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20deficit

MLA

“structural deficit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20deficit. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “structural deficit,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20deficit.

Source: structural deficit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.