The General Government1 (GG) consolidated debt to GDP ratio (using the categories of debt set out under the Excessive Deficit Procedure2) increased slightly during 2023. By end-year it stood at €207.7bn which is equivalent to 40.7% of total economy GDP. Figure 5.1 shows GG Debt (at market value), and its ratio to GDP, over the years 2013 to 2023. Ireland’s debt level grew steadily in the period 2007-2014 and fell by €11.6bn in the period 2015-2018. It increased by €29.0bn during the period 2019-2021, mainly to fund COVID-19 related expenditure. During 2022, GG Debt decreased by €47.1bn during the year, driven by a fall in debt security liabilities. In 2023, the GG Debt increased slightly by €0.5bn.
| Government Debt (EDP) | GDP | Government Debt/GDP | MIP Threshold | |
| 2013 | 231.608178466331 | 183.193 | 126.428508985786 | 60 |
| 2014 | 236.952164207963 | 200.818 | 117.993488735055 | 60 |
| 2015 | 233.758012950997 | 272.544 | 85.7689081216234 | 60 |
| 2016 | 231.741126116453 | 276.206 | 83.9015539548211 | 60 |
| 2017 | 227.079155200915 | 308.523 | 73.602018391146 | 60 |
| 2018 | 225.334448362056 | 334.866 | 67.290930808758 | 60 |
| 2019 | 226.368882378163 | 363.675 | 62.2448291408987 | 60 |
| 2020 | 246.996300712848 | 382.207 | 64.62369886288 | 60 |
| 2021 | 254.32221253236 | 449.217 | 56.614556557824 | 60 |
| 2022 | 207.216373482213 | 520.935 | 39.7777790861072 | 60 |
| 2023 | 207.708526832264 | 509.952 | 40.7309956294443 | 60 |
Get the data: PxStat IFI05
In contrast, Figure 5.2, which complements Figure 5.1, shows the evolution of General Government debt by financial instrument composition over the same period.
| AF.2 Deposits | AF.3 Securities | AF.4 Loans | |
| 2013 | 31.35599946586 | 128.830600762679 | 71.4215782377922 |
| 2014 | 20.9178684987815 | 151.099427564794 | 64.9348681443874 |
| 2015 | 20.71320365463 | 156.94306836394 | 56.101740932427 |
| 2016 | 21.3174589987728 | 153.750239001483 | 56.6734281161975 |
| 2017 | 21.59981035044 | 155.3914551647 | 50.0878896857755 |
| 2018 | 21.6478297496638 | 153.170180280189 | 50.5164383322029 |
| 2019 | 22.2197555313604 | 155.094291494666 | 49.054835352137 |
| 2020 | 23.7331230148359 | 175.81583275775 | 47.4473449402612 |
| 2021 | 25.0773281823439 | 179.51668270266 | 49.7282016473565 |
| 2022 | 25.8742531108454 | 131.88654368201 | 49.4555766893571 |
| 2023 | 25.85428721368 | 134.095330566645 | 47.758909051939 |
Get the data: PxStat IFI05
The official measure of Gross General Government Debt (GG Debt or “Maastricht Debt”) used for EDP purposes is reported at face value resulting in a ratio of 43.3% of GDP for end-20233, above its end-2022 value of 43.1% of GDP. The rise in the debt to GDP ratio during 2023 is due to a decrease in GDP for the year and slight increase in EDP debt instruments. The relative composition of GG Debt is illustrated in Figure 5.3.
| AF.2 Deposits | AF.3 Debt Securities | AF.4 Loans | |
| 2013 | 13.5383817935506 | 55.6243745863263 | 30.8372436201231 |
| 2014 | 8.82788666172418 | 63.7679035639364 | 27.4042097743394 |
| 2015 | 8.86095984182245 | 67.1391180916824 | 23.9999220664952 |
| 2016 | 9.19882428985024 | 66.3456856269099 | 24.4554900832398 |
| 2017 | 9.51201810281921 | 68.4305237207759 | 22.0574581764049 |
| 2018 | 9.6069774981237 | 67.9745957147586 | 22.4184267871177 |
| 2019 | 9.81572877770404 | 68.513962637131 | 21.6703085851649 |
| 2020 | 9.60869573606591 | 71.1815651693302 | 19.2097390946039 |
| 2021 | 9.8604553383842 | 70.5863168282314 | 19.5532278333844 |
| 2022 | 12.4865871726427 | 63.6467772626719 | 23.8666355646854 |
| 2023 | 12.4473884668966 | 64.559376840092 | 22.9932346930114 |
Get the data: PxStat IFI05
Gross disposable income (B.6g) increased in 2023 by €6.8bn, to stand at €83.7bn at end-2023. This represented a rise of 8.9% over the year. Gross saving (B.8g) of general government increased by €1.0bn in 2023, resulting in an end of year value of €20.4bn, and contributing to the government surplus4 (B.9) of €7.6bn for the year. As in 2022, general government continued to be net lender in 2023, following a period of net borrowing between 2020 and 2021.
| B.8g Gross Saving | B.9 Net Lending (+) / Net Borrowing (-) | |
| 2013 | -7.40944626245497 | -11.5004022327324 |
| 2014 | -2.4647495077751 | -7.05545970107219 |
| 2015 | 2.07857459806443 | -5.37177407763482 |
| 2016 | 3.35384212995195 | -2.10218138279577 |
| 2017 | 5.24054572662665 | -0.917537941714337 |
| 2018 | 7.93671997111986 | 0.316091480057094 |
| 2019 | 10.293888411328 | 1.54634913623504 |
| 2020 | -9.37599957916371 | -18.7248438403978 |
| 2021 | 2.57365280907629 | -6.61553632897812 |
| 2022 | 19.3745305858391 | 8.29804525351807 |
| 2023 | 20.3856066666334 | 7.61532658749299 |
Get the data: PxStat ISA03 and PxStat ISA04
1Note the data estimates for the Government sector presented in this publication refer to the July 2024 vintage – please see Government Accounts for the most recent vintage of Government sector data.
2Defined under EU regulations governing the Excessive Deficit Procedure as the sum of gross liabilities of the consolidated General Government sector (S.13) in the categories AF.2 (Currency & Deposits), AF.3 (Debt Securities) and AF.4 (Loans) at market value.
3Further details on GGDebt and its components at nominal value can be seen in the CSO release Government Finance Statistics 2023 (October 2024) – Central Statistics Office.
4Technically this is known as the Net Lending/Net Borrowing (B.9).
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