Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Headline Results

This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see Background Notes.

Open in Excel:
Table 1.1 General Government Finances
End of yearGeneral Government     GDP
        Balance      Gross Debt      Net Debt 
 €bn% GDP€bn% GDP€bn% GDP€bn
2016-2.1-0.8200.674.3176.665.4270.1
2017-0.9-0.3201.367.8175.259.0296.9
20180.50.1205.963.1177.254.3326.0
20191.70.5204.057.2174.649.0356.5
2020-19.1-5.1217.958.4185.849.8372.9
2021-8.1-1.9235.956.0192.645.7421.5
X-axis labelGG gross debt (LHS)GG net debt (LHS)GG balance (RHS)
201674.365.4-0.8
201767.859-0.3
201863.154.30.1
201957.2490.5
202058.449.8-5.1
20215645.7-1.9

 

A seminar on Government Finance Statistics will take place on 27 April. For more information and registration see Seminar on Government Finance Statistics

 

General government deficit of €8.1 billion (1.9% of GDP) in 2021. 

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a detrimental impact on general government finances in 2021, with a general government deficit of €8.1bn for the year. This was down by more than half (57.6%) on the 2020 deficit of €19.1bn (Table 1.1). The main driver behind this reduction was the strong performance of revenue in 2021 with an annual increase of €14.3bn (17.3%), due primarily to growth in both direct (22.6%) and indirect taxes (22.2%). This increase in revenue exceeded a lower €3.3bn (3.2%) rise in expenditure, resulting in an overall improvement in the year-on-year deficit.

Expenditure on COVID-19 measures for 2021 amounted to €12.4 billion, which was €2.3 billion less than in 2020 (Table A). This reduction is mainly due to a drop in expenditure on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme, which reduced by €1.1 billion to €4.0 billion in 2021 as public health restrictions eased over the year.

General government debt at €235.9 billion at end of 2021

The general government gross debt to GDP ratio was at 56.0% at the end of 2021, down from 58.4% at the end 2020. This reduction was driven entirely by the increase in GDP as the nominal debt saw an increase of €18.0 billion in the year. Over that same time frame the general government net debt to GDP ratio moved from 49.8% to 45.7% (Table 1.1).

 

Table A COVID-19 Expenditure

Table 1.2 General Government transactions: revenue, expenditure, financing and deficit

Table 1.3 Reconciliation of Exchequer Balance to General Government Deficit

Table 1.4 Reconciliation of National Debt to General Government Debt

Go to next chapter Non-Financial Accounts