Gross general government debt increased by €5.5 billion in Q1 2026 to €215.4 billion. This was accounted for by an increase in debt securities of €6.2 billion which was partially offset by a decrease of €0.7 billion in loans liabilities. The debt to GDP ratio stood at 37% at the end of the quarter.
EDP debt instrument assets increased by €3.7 billion in the quarter, which when combined with the increase in debt liabilities, resulted in an increase of €1.8 billion in net general government debt (See Table 3.1). The movement in assets is driven by an increase of €5.2 billion in currency and deposits. This was somewhat offset by a decrease of €1.5 billion in debt securities.
Figure 3.1 below shows that the composition of general government debt continues to remain relatively stable over time. In Q1 2026 securities accounted for some 68.7% of the total stock of debt. Long-term securities made up almost the entire total for this instrument, with short-term securities accounting for a little under 0.2%.
| Currency & Deposits | Long term loans | Long term debt securities | Short term loans | Short term debt securities | |
| Q1 2024 | 25.8 | 44.8 | 142.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Q2 2024 | 25.7 | 45 | 143.7 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Q3 2024 | 25.5 | 45 | 144.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Q4 2024 | 25.4 | 45.1 | 144.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Q1 2025 | 25.4 | 42.7 | 136.9 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Q2 2025 | 25.3 | 42.9 | 138.1 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Q3 2025 | 25.3 | 42.8 | 139.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
| Q4 2025 | 25.2 | 42.7 | 141.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Q1 2026 | 25.2 | 42 | 147.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Figure 3.1 above shows that the composition of general government debt continues to remain relatively stable over time. Long-term securities made up almost the entire total for this instrument, with short-term securities accounting for very little.
The market value of the State's assets in Equity and Investment Fund Shares (AF.5, Table 3.3) stood at €35.0 billion at the end of Q1 2026, representing a rise in value of €3.0 billion in the quarter. This increase in value was largely due to the Future Ireland Fund beginning to invest in a combination of quoted equities and investment fund shares, which followed a capital transfer from the Exchequer to the fund of €1.1 billion in the quarter. Holding gains on these investments (AF.5, Tables 3.2 and 3.3) amounted to €344 million during the same period.
Investment in short-term debt security assets (AF.31, Table 3.3) fell by €9.0 billion with holdings standing at €21.9 billion at the end of the quarter. This was largely explained by the State redeeming a significant proportion of its holdings in foreign treasury-bills. At the same time, investment in long-term bonds (AF.32, Table 3.3) grew by €7.5 billion, which is mostly accounted for as a result of the Social Insurance Fund investing in European sovereign bonds.
The market value of total liabilities (AF.L, Table 3.3) rose by €6.0 billion to stand at €216.0 billion at the end of Q1 2026. The change in value over the quarter was mainly composed of the following combination of movements – net incurrence of liabilities of €4.7 billion (Table 3.2) combined with net unrealised gains, principally on long-term debt securities (AF.32), of €0.8 billion. There was a net issuance of Irish Government bonds totalling €6.2 billion during 2026Q1, that was mainly due to the issuance of a 3.1% bond, which is due to mature in 2036.
The large implied other economic flow in long term loan liabilities (AF.42, Table 3.2 and 3.3) in Q1 2026 is primarily explained by the reclassification of a unit that was previously outside government.
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