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.
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| Table 1.1 General Government Finances | ||||||
| 2021 Q1 | 2021 Q2 | 2021 Q3 | 2021 Q4 | 2022 Q1 | ||
| Deficit/Surplus | € billion | -6.4 | -2.3 | -2.4 | 4.1 | 0.3 |
| % of quarterly GDP | -6.3 | -2.3 | -2.1 | 3.8 | 0.2 | |
| seasonally adjusted (€ billion) | -4.1 | -2.5 | -1.1 | 0.4 | 2.9 | |
| Gross debt | € billion | 230.3 | 234.4 | 236.1 | 235.8 | 234.9 |
| % of annualised GDP | 60.5 | 58.9 | 57.4 | 55.3 | 53.1 | |
| Net debt | € billion | 191.1 | 193.2 | 193.6 | 192.3 | 193.1 |
| % of annualised GDP | 50.2 | 48.6 | 47.0 | 45.1 | 43.7 | |
Government surplus of €0.3 billion in first quarter of 2022
With revenue of €24.2 billion and expenditure of €23.9 billion, the first quarter of 2022 saw a surplus of €0.3 billion. This modest surplus is an improvement on the €6.4 billion deficit in the same quarter in 2021, driven primarily by an increase in tax revenues of €4.0 billion. Expenditure is down €1.7 billion on the same quarter in 2021 reflecting reduced social benefit payments (see Table 1.2).
Expenditure on COVID-19 measures for Q1 2022 amounted to approximately €1.5 billion, which was €2.5 billion less than in Q1 2021. This reduction is mainly due to lower expenditure on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for Q1 2022, which reduced to €0.2 billion (€1.8 billion in Q1 2021).
This release includes seasonally adjusted figures for general government total revenue, total expenditure, and the deficit/surplus (see Table 1.2). A comparison between the seasonally adjusted and non seasonally adjusted balance is shown in Figure 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 | -1.9 |
| Q2 2020 | -6.8 | -6.9 |
| Q3 2020 | -6.6 | -5.3 |
| Q4 2020 | -1.8 | -5.2 |
| Q1 2021 | -6.4 | -4.1 |
| Q2 2021 | -2.3 | -2.5 |
| Q3 2021 | -2.4 | -1.1 |
| Q4 2021 | 4.1 | 0.4 |
| Q1 2022 | 0.3 | 2.9 |
General government debt at €234.9 billion at end of Q1 2022
The general government gross debt to GDP ratio was at 53.1% at the end of the quarter, a decrease of 7 percentage points from the end of Q1 2021. With nominal debt increasing by €4.5 billion this reduction was driven entirely by the increase in GDP. Over that same time frame the general government net debt to GDP ratio moved from 50.2% to 43.7%.
| GG Gross Debt | GG Net Debt | |
| Q1 2020 | 58.7 | 48.8 |
| Q2 2020 | 62.1 | 48.9 |
| Q3 2020 | 61.1 | 49.1 |
| Q4 2020 | 58.4 | 49.8 |
| Q1 2021 | 60.5 | 50.2 |
| Q2 2021 | 58.9 | 48.6 |
| Q3 2021 | 57.4 | 47 |
| Q4 2021 | 55.3 | 45.1 |
| Q1 2022 | 53.1 | 43.7 |
Government accounts are compiled in the EU according to the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) framework.
This release contains quarterly Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and is aligned to the Annual National Accounts 2021 (ANA) published on 15 July 2022.
Annual general government data on CSO PxStat is currently as per April EDP figures and will be updated when the annual October EDP data is published.
A full description of the concepts and definitions used in the production of these statistics is provided in the Background Notes.
