General government gross debt (the level of government borrowing) fell by €5.7 billion to €209.9 billion (Table 3.1), lowering the debt ratio from 38.3% at the end of 2024 to 32.9% at the end of last year. Given the significant borrowing required during the pandemic years, the level of debt remains almost €7 billion higher than at the end of 2019. General government net debt fell by €16.9 billion. General government net debt now stands at €138.2 billion (21.6% of GDP) at the end of 2025. Net debt takes account of the assets corresponding to Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) debt instruments, i.e. currency and deposits, securities other than shares, and loans (Tables 3.1 and 3.4).
At the end of 2025, the value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) stood at €32 billion, representing a year-on-year fall in value of €2.3 billion since 2024. This drop in value was driven by the combination of a reduction in holdings of €3 billion (Table 3.2) and an increase in the market value of these holdings of €0.8 billion. The reduction in holdings of AF.5 assets was largely explained by a net sell-off by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund of the remaining shares held by the State in AIB. In addition, the negative transaction in financial derivatives of €440 million was driven by the cancellation of warrants by the State, in relation to shares in AIB, which yielded proceeds of €390 million for the Exchequer.
Investment in debt securities (AF.3, Table 3.3) rose significantly during 2025 with holdings standing at €42.8 billion at the end of the year. This represented an increase of €15.6 billion since the end of 2024. The majority of these assets are held by the National Treasury Management Agency, which has continued to invest significantly in short-term foreign treasury bills in recent years for the purpose of attracting a more favourable rate of return on Exchequer cash reserves. In addition, the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund also invested their cash reserves in both short and long-term bonds in 2025.
The market value of total liabilities fell by €8.3 billion during 2025, compared with its end-2024 value of €218.1 billion. This movement in value was composed of a net redemption/repayment of liabilities corresponding to an annual transaction of -€5.8 billion (Table 3.2) together with downward market price changes and currency effects totalling €2.5 billion. The large negative transaction in liabilities is due mainly to redemptions on Irish Government bonds.
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