The State’s national debt stood at €218.2 billion at the end of last year, equating to €40,550 for every man, woman and child in the State, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
While this is high in per-capita terms, it fell as a proportion of GDP (gross domestic product), the traditional measure of national income.
The CSO said gross general government debt fell by €2.5 billion to €218.2 billion at the end of 2024, noting this was equivalent to 40.9 per cent of GDP, compared with 43.3 per cent of GDP a year earlier.
The Department of Finance has long cautioned that comparing debt to GDP gives a false impression of the State’s financial position.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac), the Government’s spending watchdog, has also warned that because of the inflated nature of Ireland’s headline GDP numbers, the State is unlikely to face any major scrutiny of its financial position or be constrained from spending under the European Union’s incoming fiscal rules.
The budgetary watchdog recently noted that “given the use of GDP, Ireland will most likely be classified as a low-debt country”.
Compliance with the deficit rules will also continue to be helped by recent surges in corporation tax receipts, it said.
The CSO’s figures also pointed to a general government surplus of €23.2 billion, with revenue 20 per cent higher than 2023, and expenditure up by 8 per cent.
Total government revenue of €148.3 billion was €24.5 billion higher than the previous year. “This was driven by a one-off capital transfer of over €14 billion arising from a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling [in the Apple tax case], alongside continuing increases in tax revenue,” the CSO said.
Total government expenditure rose by €9.2 billion last year “due to increases across almost all expenditure items, most notably in pay, social benefits and capital investment”.
This resulted in an overall government surplus of €23.2 billion for 2024, up 193 per cent on 2023, the agency said.
Editorial Comment, page 11
