Government deficit at 0.3 percent of GDP in 2023

Government revenues rose by 7 percent

Expenditure up by 8 percent

In 2023, expenditure rose by nearly 8 percent relative to one year previously. Of the 33 billion euro increase, 20 billion extra was spent on social benefits in cash and in kind, which also includes spending on healthcare. The government increased supplementary benefits in 2023, as well as other benefits that went up due to indexation. Relative to 2022, an additional 6 billion euros was spent on government employee salaries and an additional 7 billion on purchasing goods and services. This seems to be mainly a result of higher prices. Other expenses showed pluses and minuses. Higher spending on interest and capital transfers were offset by lower expenditure on subsidies and other current transfers.

Debt fell to 46.5 percent of GDP

At the end of 2023, public debt was more or less at the same level as one year previously, at 481 billion euros. This was largely due to the small deficit in 2023, which increased the debt slightly. On the other hand, the utilisation of bank balances and deposits and receipts from other financial assets allowed debt to be reduced.

Public debt as a percentage of GDP was down 3.7 percentage points relative to one year previously, when the gross debt ratio was 50.1 percent. This decline was due to relatively strong GDP growth of 8 percent in 2023, mainly due to higher prices. Over the past 30 years, only the debt-to-GDP ratios at the end of 2006 and 2007 have been lower. However, euro-denominated debt was more than 210 billion lower then.