Despite an improved deficit position General Government consolidated gross debt (using the categories of debt set out under the Excessive Deficit Procedure1 continued to rise during 2013, standing by end-year at €231.8bn which is equivalent to 132.6 per cent of total economy GDP. Figure 13 compares GGDebt, and its ratio to GDP, over the years 2003 to 2013. It can be seen from this graph that Ireland’s debt level has grown steadily since 2007, albeit with a noticeable tapering off in the rate of growth during 2013.
| Government Debt (EDP) | GDP | Government Debt/GDP | |
| 2003 | 44.9974105415807 | 144.8398 | 31.0670206266376 |
| 2004 | 45.8566513829445 | 155.4702 | 29.4954604695591 |
| 2005 | 47.6926806629223 | 169.1529 | 28.1950121238964 |
| 2006 | 45.3833574568824 | 183.7592 | 24.6971892873295 |
| 2007 | 48.1510597572251 | 196.7485 | 24.4734062812297 |
| 2008 | 82.8324168275521 | 186.8702 | 44.3261776503435 |
| 2009 | 108.335710744582 | 168.114 | 64.4418137362636 |
| 2010 | 132.934750142475 | 164.9312 | 80.6001230467462 |
| 2011 | 182.260059709293 | 171.0423 | 106.558471038622 |
| 2012 | 218.854767287769 | 172.7547 | 126.685275299468 |
| 2013 | 231.782754746666 | 174.7913 | 132.605429873607 |
In addition, Figure 14 shows the evolution of the composition of General Government debt over the same period.
The official measure of General Government Debt (GGDebt or “Maastricht Debt”) used for EDP purposes is reported at face value resulting in a ratio of 123.3 per cent of GDP for end-20132. In the current publication all liabilities are measured at market value and substituting this market valuation for the face value used in the calculation of GGDebt gives rise to the higher figure of 132.6 per cent of GDP. The rapid rise in the ratio of debt to GDP since 2007 is due primarily to an increasing government debt level during this period. Although GDP has risen by €9.9bn since 2010, government debt grew by €98.8bn during the same period.
| AF.2 Deposits | AF.3 Securities | AF.4 Loans | |
| 2003 | 7.908 | 35.4954464205807 | 1.593964121 |
| 2004 | 8.076 | 36.0840746953169 | 1.69657668762756 |
| 2005 | 8.319 | 37.4040731254042 | 1.96960753751812 |
| 2006 | 8.074 | 35.2894643928547 | 2.01989306402768 |
| 2007 | 7.675 | 38.3830576755387 | 2.09300208168643 |
| 2008 | 8.8451 | 70.6202159356229 | 3.36710089192925 |
| 2009 | 10.3083552900018 | 94.6604404355872 | 3.36691501899314 |
| 2010 | 13.7111877012 | 84.048498073454 | 35.1750643678211 |
| 2011 | 58.3880982937987 | 85.1817554864047 | 38.69020592909 |
| 2012 | 62.09905376814 | 94.2743016006563 | 62.4814119189731 |
| 2013 | 31.35599946586 | 126.287985096621 | 74.1387701841847 |
Gross disposable income (B.6g) grew by €2.1bn from €21.3bn in 2012 to €23.4bn in 2013 – a rise of 10.0 per cent over the year. Gross saving (B.8g) of general government increased by €2.2bn in 2013 contributing to a reduction in the deficit3 (B.9) which stood at €10.0bn for the year. Government net borrowing, which peaked at €53.5bn in 2010, has declined by €43.5bn over the past three years.
| B.8g Gross Saving | B.9 Net Lending (+) / Net Borrowing (-) | |
| 2003 | 5.31441954211834 | 0.609852697558346 |
| 2004 | 7.20818495232168 | 2.15460272657435 |
| 2005 | 8.0986887660204 | 2.67235742624073 |
| 2006 | 10.937758357789 | 5.16358372525272 |
| 2007 | 8.49836670522962 | 0.454932474637733 |
| 2008 | -2.31483985676529 | -13.1447196821981 |
| 2009 | -12.0228439971075 | -23.3553137869125 |
| 2010 | -11.4555121026162 | -53.4652600002232 |
| 2011 | -10.1094032172823 | -21.5873459362886 |
| 2012 | -9.38181127744155 | -13.8994612023709 |
| 2013 | -7.15243119485817 | -9.96709021852985 |
1Defined 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 face value.
2Further details on GG Debt and its components at nominal value can be seen in the CSO release Government Finance Statistics – Annual, October 2014
3Technically this is known as the Net Lending/Net Borrowing (B.9)
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