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.
CSO statistical release, , 11am
| Table 1.1 General Government Finances | ||||||
| 2021 Q3 | 2021 Q4 | 2020 Q1 - Q4 | 2021 Q1 - Q4 | |||
| Deficit/Surplus | € billion | -2.6 | 3.5 | -19.1 | -8.1 | |
| % of quarterly GDP | -2.2 | 3.3 | -4.2 | -6.5 | ||
| seasonally adjusted (€ billion) | -1.5 | -0.6 | -19.3 | -8.8 | ||
| Gross debt | € billion | 236.2 | 235.9 | |||
| % of annualised GDP | 57.7 | 56.0 | ||||
| Net debt | € billion | 193.9 | 192.6 | |||
| % of annualised GDP | 47.3 | 45.7 | ||||
| A seminar on Government Finance Statistics will take place on 27 April. For more information and registration see Seminar on Government Finance Statistics |
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Government surplus of €3.5 billion in fourth quarter of 2021
The series of deficits since the onset of the pandemic has changed to a surplus in Q4 2021. With revenue of €31.1 billion and expenditure of €27.7 billion, quarter 4 saw a surplus of €3.5 billion. This surplus is an improvement of €5.2 billion on the same quarter in 2020, driven primarily by an increase in tax revenues of €5.6 billion. Expenditure is up €0.5 billion on the same quarter in 2020. The year to date comparison with 2020 shows an improvement of €11.0 billion in the deficit (Table 1.1), again driven by stronger tax receipts in 2021.
Expenditure on COVID-19 measures for Q4 2021 amounted to c.€2.4 billion, which was €1.6 billion than in Q4 2020. This reduction is mainly due to lower expenditure on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for Q4 2021, which reduced to €0.2 billion (€1.3 billion in Q4 2020).
This release includes seasonally adjusted figures for general government total expenditure, total revenue and the deficit/surplus (see Table 1.2). A comparison between the seasonally adjusted and non seasonally adjusted balance is shown in Fig 1.1. For details regarding the methodology used in producing the seasonally adjusted series, please see background notes.
| GG Balance | SA GG Balance | |
| Q1 2020 | -3.9 | -1.8 |
| Q2 2020 | -6.8 | -7 |
| Q3 2020 | -6.7 | -5.7 |
| Q4 2020 | -1.8 | -4.9 |
| Q1 2021 | -6.5 | -4.1 |
| Q2 2021 | -2.5 | -2.6 |
| Q3 2021 | -2.6 | -1.5 |
| Q4 2021 | 3.5 | -0.6 |
General government debt at €235.9 billion at end of Q4 2021
The general government gross debt to GDP ratio was at 56.0% at the end of the quarter, down from 58.4% at the end of Q4 2020. This reduction was driven entirely by the increase in GDP as the overall debt was up by €18.0 billion in the same period. Over that same time frame the general government net debt to GDP ratio moved from 49.8% to 45.7%.
| GG Gross Debt | GG Net Debt | |
| Q1 2020 | 58.8 | 48.9 |
| Q2 2020 | 62.1 | 49 |
| Q3 2020 | 61.2 | 49.2 |
| Q4 2020 | 58.4 | 49.8 |
| Q1 2021 | 60.6 | 50.3 |
| Q2 2021 | 59.2 | 48.8 |
| Q3 2021 | 57.7 | 47.3 |
| Q4 2021 | 56 | 45.7 |
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Government accounts are compiled in the EU according to the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) framework. Government Finance Statistics (GFS) quarterly results are benchmarked to the most recent EDP notification. Consequently, they may not always be fully aligned with the National Income and Expenditure (NIE) and related publications such as the Institutional Sector Accounts and the Quarterly National Accounts publications. A full description of the concepts and definitions used in the production of these statistics is provided in the Background notes. |
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