CSO - Central Statistics Office Ireland

16/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 16/07/2024 09:02

Government Finance Statistics Quarter 1 2024

General government surplus of €0.5 billion in Quarter 1 2024

Online ISSN: 2009-6178
CSO statistical publication, 16 July 2024, 11am

Key Findings

  • Total general government revenue at €28.8 billion in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024, was €1.3 billion more than Q1 2023.

  • General government expenditure also increased, reaching €28.3 billion. This was €1.4 billion higher than Q1 2023.

  • The resulting general government balance was €0.5 billion in Q1 2024, compared with €0.7 billion in Q1 2023.

  • The general government gross debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 42.5% at the end of Q1 2024.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 July 2024) released Government Finance Statistics Quarterly Results for Q1 2024.

Commenting on the release, Paul McElvaney, Statistician in the Government Accounts Compilation & Outputs Division, said:

"Today's results for Q1 2024 show that total government revenue rose to €28.8 billion, which was €1.3 billion higher than in Q1 2023. This was driven by taxes and social contributions, which increased by €1.2 billion.

Total government expenditure also saw an increase, to €28.3 billion in Q1 2024, which was €1.4 billion higher than Q1 2023. This was across a range of items, with increases driven by pay, social benefits, and gross fixed capital formation.

This resulted in a government surplus of €0.5 billion in Q1 2024."

Table 1.1 General Government Finances
2022 2023 2024
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
Deficit/Surplus
Value €bn -0.3 1.6 1.9 5.1 0.7 1.6 -0.1 5.7 0.5
Percentage of quarterly GDP % -0.3 1.2 1.4 3.8 0.5 1.2 -0.1 4.5 0.4
Seasonally adjusted value €bn 1.4 2.0 3.8 1.0 2.4 2.1 1.9 1.5 2.1
Gross debt
Value €bn 235.2 236.6 236.1 224.7 223.6 223.0 222.6 220.7 215.8
Percentage of annualised GDP % 50.6 48.9 46.9 43.1 42.5 42.4 43.0 43.3 42.5
Net debt
Value €bn 194.4 190.4 187.5 188.2 186.7 184.0 182.2 180.8 180.7
Percentage of annualised GDP % 41.8 39.4 37.3 36.1 35.5 34.9 35.2 35.5 35.6

Government surplus of €0.5 billion in Quarter 1 2024

With revenue of €28.8 billion and expenditure of €28.3 billion, Q1 2024 saw a surplus of €0.5 billion. This is broadly similar to the €0.7 billion surplus in the same quarter in 2023. On the revenue side, the main drivers are increased taxes of €0.8 billion, increased social contributions of €0.4 billion, and investment income of €0.1 billion.

Expenditure was €1.4 billion higher than the same quarter in 2023, mainly due to growth in social benefits of €0.9 billion, compensation of employees of €0.6 billion, and gross fixed capital formation of €0.2 billion (See Table 1.2).

This release includes seasonally adjusted figures for general government total revenue, total expenditure, and the balance (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.

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Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Chart context menuCentral Statistics OfficeQ1 2022Q2 2022Q3 2022Q4 2022Q1 2023Q2 2023Q3 2023Q4 2023Q1 2024Highcharts.comFigure 1.1 General government balance and seasonally adjusted balance
GG Balance
SA GG Balance
-20246
€bn
GG Balance SA GG Balance
Q1 2022 -0.3 1.4
Q2 2022 1.6 2
Q3 2022 1.9 3.8
Q4 2022 5.1 1
Q1 2023 0.7 2.4
Q2 2023 1.6 2.1
Q3 2023 -0.1 1.9
Q4 2023 5.7 1.5
Q1 2024 0.5 2.1

General government debt at €215.8 billion at end of Q1 2024

The general government gross debt fell by nearly €5 billion in the quarter. The debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 42.5% at the end of Q1 2024, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points from the end of Q4 2023. The decrease in the ratio this quarter was driven entirely by the fall in the level of debt, as GDP fell by over €2 billion in the quarter. Over that same time frame, the value of general government net debt is unchanged, with debt assets falling by the same amount as the liabilities. The General Government (GG) net debt to GDP ratio rose from 35.5% to 35.6% due to the fall in GDP.

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Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Chart context menuCentral Statistics Office2022 Q12022 Q22022 Q32022 Q42023 Q12023 Q22023 Q32023 Q42024 Q1Highcharts.comFigure 1.2 General government gross and net debt, per cent of GDP
Gross Debt
Net Debt
0204060
%
Gross Debt Net Debt
2022 Q1 50.6 41.8
2022 Q2 48.9 39.4
2022 Q3 46.9 37.3
2022 Q4 43.1 36.1
2023 Q1 42.5 35.5
2023 Q2 42.4 34.9
2023 Q3 43 35.2
2023 Q4 43.3 35.5
2024 Q1 42.5 35.6
Table 1.2 General Government transactions: revenue, expenditure, financing and balance
Table 1.2 General Government transactions: revenue, expenditure, financing and balance
€million
Description ESA2010 code 2022 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2023 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Q4 2024 Q1
General Government transactions
Revenue TR 24,338 27,673 28,811 35,057 27,579 29,651 28,805 37,341 28,833
Taxes and social contributions D2 + D5 + D91 + D61 22,885 25,892 26,972 33,110 25,726 27,568 26,631 34,903 26,892
Taxes D2 + D5 + D91 18,117 20,987 22,032 27,702 20,490 22,326 21,477 29,282 21,300
Social contributions D61 4,767 4,905 4,941 5,408 5,236 5,242 5,155 5,621 5,592
Sales of goods and services P1O 1,053 1,117 1,105 1,208 1,128 1,144 1,129 1,215 1,091
Investment income D4 19 182 259 210 253 397 495 692 388
Current transfer revenue (excluding taxes) D7 240 289 304 316 289 304 325 320 294
Capital transfer revenue (excluding taxes) D9N 141 193 170 214 183 239 224 212 169
Expenditure TE 24,670 26,110 26,930 29,922 26,880 28,091 28,900 31,655 28,292
Expense Expense 24,329 25,285 25,768 28,323 26,453 27,149 27,550 29,684 27,641
Compensation of employees D1 6,933 7,089 7,048 7,681 7,669 7,792 7,807 8,021 8,252
Use of goods and services plus taxes payable P2 + D5 + D29 4,113 4,310 4,425 4,912 4,338 4,679 4,623 5,660 4,406
Depreciation (Consumption of fixed capital) P51c 1,666 1,666 1,666 1,666 1,818 1,818 1,818 1,818 1,818
Interest (excluding FISIM) D41 759 787 831 947 853 867 835 830 808
Subsidies D3 1,257 734 625 807 587 616 621 721 551
Social benefits D62 + D632 8,058 8,863 9,722 10,439 8,654 9,776 10,293 10,782 9,541
Other current transfers D7 1,070 1,422 1,013 1,378 1,990 1,037 992 1,291 1,718
Capital transfers D9 474 413 437 493 543 563 561 559 545
Net operating balance NOB 8 2,389 3,043 6,734 1,126 2,502 1,255 7,658 1,193
Net acquisition of non-financial assets P5 + NP - P51c 341 825 1,162 1,599 427 942 1,349 1,972 651
General Government Surplus/Deficit B9 -332 1,564 1,881 5,135 699 1,560 -95 5,686 541
equals, in principle
Net acquisition of financial assets ΔFA -2,185 3,683 2,599 -9,899 -945 566 803 1,649 -5,759
Debt instruments F2 + F3 + F4 -2,325 5,414 2,421 -11,953 354 2,192 1,219 -505 -4,883
Equity and Investment Fund Shares F5 -239 -1,292 -304 -679 -189 -1,484 -172 -668 131
Other financial assets F6 + F7 + F8 379 -439 481 2,733 -1,110 -141 -245 2,821 -1,007
less
Net incurrence of liabilities ΔL -1,399 1,125 -905 -11,517 -2,723 -1,824 -462 -2,718 -4,127
Debt instruments F2 + F3 + F4 -1,008 808 -922 -12,087 -2,342 -1,644 -175 -2,565 -4,739
Other liabilities F5 + F6 + F7 + F8 -391 317 17 570 -381 -179 -287 -153 612
Memo: Net derivative flows on debt interest swap contracts -2 -2 -1 0 0 1 1 0 0
General Government Surplus/Deficit (% of quarterly GDP) -0.3 1.2 1.4 3.8 0.5 1.2 -0.1 4.5 0.4
Quarterly GDP at current market prices 122,123 125,475 138,569 134,769 127,608 125,576 129,967 126,801 125,452
Seasonally adjusted revenue 27,193 28,437 30,789 29,359 30,423 30,553 30,889 31,485 31,605
Seasonally adjusted expenditure 25,757 26,459 27,025 28,320 28,057 28,445 28,987 29,998 29,510
Seasonally adjusted surplus/deficit 1,436 1,978 3,764 1,040 2,366 2,109 1,902 1,488 2,095

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 2023 (ANA) published on 12 July 2024.

A full description of the concepts and definitions used in the production of these statistics is provided in the Background Notes.