The General Government Balance (GGB) shows a surplus of €11.2 billion in 2025, or 1.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is less than half the surplus of €23.3 billion recorded in 2024, which included a one-off revenue of €14.2 billion arising from a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling.
Total government revenue fell to €145.1 billion in 2025, €4 billion less than 2024. Excluding the impact of the one-off revenue in 2024, revenue actually rose by €10.3 billion in 2025.
Total government expenditure rose to €133.8 billion in 2025, an €8.1 billion increase on 2024.
Gross General Government Debt (GGD) fell to €209.9 billion at the end of 2025, a decrease of €5.7 billion since the end of 2024.
| Table 1.1 General Government Finances | |||||||
| End of year | General Government | GDP | |||||
| Balance | Gross Debt | Net Debt | |||||
| €bn | % GDP | €bn | % GDP | €bn | % GDP | €bn | |
| 2020 | -19.1 | -5.0 | 217.2 | 56.9 | 183.9 | 48.2 | 381.7 |
| 2021 | -6.0 | -1.3 | 235.2 | 52.4 | 190.4 | 42.5 | 448.4 |
| 2022 | 8.5 | 1.6 | 223.7 | 43.0 | 185.4 | 35.6 | 520.7 |
| 2023 | 7.4 | 1.4 | 219.3 | 41.8 | 177.7 | 33.9 | 524.7 |
| 2024 | 23.3 | 4.1 | 215.6 | 38.3 | 155.1 | 27.6 | 562.8 |
| 2025 | 11.2 | 1.8 | 209.9 | 32.9 | 138.2 | 21.6 | 638.7 |
The General Government Balance was in surplus in 2025, at €11.2 billion.
This surplus was driven by revenues of €145.1 billion.
Tax and social contribution revenues rose by €10.4 billion (8.3%) on the previous year, with increases across both direct taxes and indirect taxes. Direct taxes, which includes corporation tax, reported a year-on-year increase of €6.7 billion (10.2%) while indirect taxes, which includes VAT, also showed growth in 2024 of €1.8 billion (5%).
Expenditure in 2025 reached €133.8 billion, up €8.1 billion (6.5%) on 2024. Increased expenditure was seen across most expenditure categories. Capital investment (gross fixed capital formation) rose 21.2% to €17.3 billion. There was a €2.1 billion (6.3%) rise in wages and salaries (compensation of employees). Capital transfers, which includes investment grants to semi-state enterprises, rose by €2.3 billion (84.4%).
The general government gross debt to GDP ratio was 32.9% at the end of 2025 compared with 38.3% of GDP a year earlier. The nominal value of debt fell by €5.7 billion during the year. Net debt, which includes EDP assets, was €138.2 billion at the end of 2025, down €17 billion.
| X-axis label | GG gross debt (LHS) | GG net debt (LHS) | GG balance (RHS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 56.9003747523107 | 48.1837879031217 | -5.00387555502328 |
| 2021 | 52.443769532787 | 42.466547445877 | -1.32782046706103 |
| 2022 | 42.9591322025901 | 35.6084477852095 | 1.62898666256125 |
| 2023 | 41.7886230331768 | 33.8672412061277 | 1.4158663725901 |
| 2024 | 38.3043752734032 | 27.5640623969435 | 4.14366659981858 |
| 2025 | 32.8648364838731 | 21.6320528277735 | 1.75705501372316 |
Government accounts are compiled in the EU according to the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) framework.
The detailed tables are aligned with the April 2026 Excessive Deficit Procedure notification. Revisions to previous years reflect updated data sources or changes in methodology - see Background Notes.
The main EDP notification tables for Ireland will be published on 22nd April 2026, the same day as the Eurostat release of EDP statistics. This will include details of government guarantees, PPPs and concessions and tables showing the impact on government accounts of government interventions in the financial sector.
Annual Government Finance Statistics are benchmarked to the most recent EDP notification and so may not be fully aligned with the Annual National Accounts and related publications, such as the Institutional Sector Accounts.
The concepts and definitions used in this release are described in the background notes.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (21 April 2026) published Government Finance Statistics results for 2025.
Commenting on the release, Bill Drakeford, Statistician in the Government Accounts Compilation & Outputs Division, said: “Today’s results for 2025 show a surplus of €11.2 billion, with revenue 2.7% lower than 2024, and expenditure up by 6.5%. This is the fourth year in a row to record a surplus, with a combined surplus for 2022 to 2025 of just over €50 billion, driven by tax receipts of almost €400 billion over the period. When comparing 2024 and 2025, it should be noted that in 2024 there is a one-off capital receipt of more than €14 billion, arising from a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling.
Total government revenue of €145.1 billion, is a €4 billion decrease on 2024. Excluding the impact of the one-off revenue of €14.2 billion in 2024, revenue in 2025 actually rose by €10.3 billion.Gross General Government Debt stood at €209.9 billion at the end of 2025, down by €5.7 billion in the year. This is the equivalent to 32.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”