Provisional data for 2021 shows a general government deficit of €7.1 billion or 1.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2021, revenue increased by €15.4 billion (18.5%) while expenditure increased by €3.7 billion (3.6%), resulting in an improvement of €11.7 billion over the 2020 deficit (see Table 1).
Provisional data indicates that general government gross debt (GG Debt) stood at €236.1 billion at the end of 2021 (55.4% of GDP) compared with the 2020 figure of €217.7 billion (58.4% of GDP).
| Headline Table General Government Finances | ||||||
| Balance | Gross Debt | Net Debt | ||||
| Year | €bn | % GDP | €bn | % GDP | €bn | % GDP |
| 2018 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 205.8 | 63.0 | 177.0 | 54.2 |
| 2019 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 203.4 | 57.0 | 174.0 | 48.8 |
| 2020 | -18.8 | -5.0 | 217.7 | 58.4 | 185.5 | 49.8 |
| 2021 | -7.1 | -1.7 | 236.1 | 55.4 | 192.3 | 45.1 |
| X-axis label | GG gross debt (LHS) | GG net debt (LHS) | GG balance (RHS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 63 | 54.2 | 0.1 |
| 2019 | 57 | 48.8 | 0.5 |
| 2020 | 58.4 | 49.8 | -5 |
| 2021 | 55.4 | 45.1 | -1.7 |
Today's results are provisional pending the completion of the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) clarification process on 17 October 2022. The detailed annual release and tables will be published on 19 October 2022 and the CSO's databank - PxStat - will be updated at this time. The provisional data released today has not been included on PxStat.
Changes to the data since publication in April 2022 reflect updated sources and changes in methodology.
The main Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) notification tables, details of government guarantees, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and concessions, and the impact of government interventions to support the financial sector will be published on 21 October 2022, the same day as Eurostat's EDP statistics release.
Government finance statistics are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 2010 framework.
