| General Government Finances | ||||||
| Balance | Gross Debt | Net Debt | ||||
| % quarterly | % annualised | % annualised | ||||
| €bn | GDP | €bn | GDP | €bn | GDP | |
| 2018 Q1 | -1.8 | -2.3 | 210.3 | 68.5 | 177.6 | 57.8 |
| 2018 Q2 | -0.6 | -0.8 | 214.6 | 68.3 | 177.0 | 56.3 |
| 2018 Q3 | -1.6 | -1.8 | 215.8 | 67.2 | 177.8 | 55.4 |
| 2018 Q4 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 206.0 | 63.6 | 177.9 | 54.9 |
| 2019 Q1 | -1.6 | -1.9 | 215.1 | 65.4 | 178.9 | 54.4 |
| 2019 Q2 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 213.8 | 63.9 | 175.9 | 52.6 |
| 2018 Q1-Q2 | -2.4 | -1.5 | ||||
| 2019 Q1-Q2 | -0.1 | -0.1 | ||||
The government recorded a deficit of €0.1 billion (-0.1% of GDP) in the first half of 2019 (Table 1).
In the first 6 months of 2019, government revenue amounted to €40.3 billion, up 7.2% compared with the same period of 2018. This increase was mainly due to increases in Taxes and Social contributions (+7.3%).
In the first 6 months of 2019, government expenditure was €40.5 billion, an increase of €0.4 billion (+1.1%) on the same period last year. This increase is mainly due to expenditure in Compensation of employees/Pay (+4.2%), Use of goods and services (+4.2%) and Social benefits (+2.1%). (Tables 1 and 4).
Government Gross Debt at 63.9% of GDP at end Q2 2019
General Government Gross Debt (GG Debt) was €213.8 billion (63.9% of GDP) at the end of Q2 2019 (Figure 2 and Table 7). This compares with a debt level of 65.4% of GDP at the end of Q1 2019. The fall in the debt ratio is due mainly to increased GDP.
At the end of June 2019, General Government Net Debt was €175.9 billion (52.6% of GDP), a decrease of €1.1 billion on the net debt level a year earlier. In the same period Maastricht debt fell by €0.9 billion due primarily to the redemption of long-term debt securities.
The market value of Equity and Investment Fund Shares fell by €5.1 billion over the same period. This decrease in the value of the investment portfolio was caused by a combination of net sales of these assets (€2.6 billion) and stock market losses (€2.5 billion) which impacted the State’s shares in Irish banks (Tables 2, 5 and 6).
The debt per capita at the end of Q2 2019 stood at €43,439 (Figure 3).
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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 and related publications such as the Institutional Sector Accounts and the Quarterly National Accounts. The calculation methods for quarterly GFS are similar to those used in deriving the annual GFS. As some of the available sources are of lesser reliability than those used for the annual GFS, the quarterly estimates are subject to a greater margin of error than the annual figures. A full description of the concepts and definitions used in the production of these statistics is provided in the Background notes. |
