Press Statement

Preasráiteas

19 October 2021

Go to release: Government Finance Statistics October 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (19 October 2021) released Government Finance Statistics - October 2021 Results – Annual Results.

Commenting on the release, Tom Fitzgerald, Statistician, said: "The deficit of €18.4 billion for 2020 is a €20.2bn deterioration compared with the surplus of €1.8bn in 2019 and clearly highlights the effect COVID-19 measures had on government finances".

This release includes a breakdown of the additional direct costs associated with the range of COVID-19 measures introduced by the Government since March 2020.

In relation to these measures, Tom Fitzgerald stated:

“The updated estimate of the impact of pandemic on government expenditure in 2020 shows €14.8bn of additional direct costs associated with the range of COVID-19 measures introduced by the Government since March 2020. These include the fiscal support measures to expand the capacity of the healthcare sector, supporting household incomes and providing supports to businesses during the periods of public health restrictions. In total this amounted to approximately 4.0% of GDP / 7.2% of GNI* in 2020.”

General government revenue was €83.6bn in 2020, down 5.1% on 2019. This includes a decrease in indirect taxes of €3.3bn (12%), reflecting lower VAT receipts and the impact of the commercial rates waiver. Expenditure in 2020 stood at €102bn, up significantly (18.3%) on 2019.

General government gross debt (the level of government borrowing) rose by almost €14bn to €217.9bn. However the debt to GDP ratio remained below the Stability and Growth Pact threshold of 60% due to the performance of GDP in the year.

Today’s release includes a presentational update to show the Social Security Funds subsector of general government and enhance comparability with other European Union Member States.

Editor's Note:

Government accounts are compiled in the EU according to the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) framework.

This release contains the detailed tables as referenced in the provisional release published on 11 October 2021 and are aligned with the October 2021 Excessive Deficit Procedure notification.

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