The country’s national debt grew to almost €9.8 billion last year, but it shrunk as a percentage of GDP, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The central government debt increased by around €800 million last year from the year before when debt stood at nearly €9 billion, according to NSO figures.

Despite the jump in the country’s obligations, the debt as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 1.2 percentage points to just over half (50.4%) owing to economic growth. GDP measures the monetary value of all goods and services produced by a country. 

This represented a four-year low for debt as a percentage of GDP, which peaked in 2021 – the year after COVID-19 struck – at 53.9%, with debt that year standing at €8.3 billion.

The structure of government debt. NSO graphic.

More than half of the debt (€5.3 billion) last year was owed to financial corporations, followed by the ‘rest of the world’ sector (€2.1 billion) which includes the EU and other international organisations.

Households and non-profits such as NGOs and trade unions accounted for €2.1 billion of the debt while around €200 million was owed to non-financial corporations.

And while the vast majority of government debt was in euros, some €9,000 was owed in Canadian dollars, according to the NSO.

The figures show that most of the country’s debts are due to be paid off within the next 10 years, with €1.1 billion due to be paid in the next year, €3.2 billion in the next five and just over €3 billion within the next five to 10 years.

Graphic: NSO

The average remaining maturity, or the point at which the final payment on a debt is due to be made, is eight years and a month.

Most government debt was in debt securities, which can be bought and sold in the market and commonly include government bonds and those backed by mortgages.

Meanwhile, as government debt climbed higher, so too did the value of the debt in the market. Last year, government debt was valued at €9.4 billion, up around a billion euros from the year before and the highest figure seen over the last four years.

Last year, the NSO said that the government had guaranteed €1.1 billion of the national debt, accounting for 5.9% of the total.