Ireland’s national debt now equates to nearly €90,000 for every worker in the State.
According to the Central Bank, the State’s national debt stood at €232.1 billion at the end of 2025, largely unchanged from the €232.6 billion recorded at the end of the previous year.
The total equates to €42,500 for every man, woman and child in the State and almost €90,000 per worker.
While this is high in per-capita terms, as a proportion of GDP (gross domestic product), the State’s debt ratio, it has fallen significantly in recent years as Ireland’s income and output has grown.
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About €77 billion of Ireland’s debt falls due in the next five years. Much of the State’s borrowings is locked in at relatively low interest rates.
When that debt is refinanced, the Government will have to pay a higher rates, placing a potential drag on the public finances.
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Globally, concern about sovereign debt – dangerously high levels of it – has grown but Ireland remains insulated by high levels of corporation tax, which hit a record level last year.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Government’s spending watchdog, has also warned that because of the inflated nature of Ireland’s GDP numbers, the State is unlikely to face scrutiny of its financial position or be constrained from spending under the EU’s revamped fiscal rules.
The council 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.
Minister for Finance Simon Harris has pledged to keep annual spending increases to an average of 6 per cent over the next five years in an attempt to rein in runaway spending.
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Europe could soon be engulfed in another sovereign debt crisis, unless it adopts “bold” policy responses, the International Monetary Fund warned recently.
The Washington-based organisation said public spending pressures in several European countries had put debt on a potentially “explosive path”.
“Elevated public debt, an increasingly difficult financing environment and new spending pressures are creating a fundamental sustainability challenge at a time when countries face political polarisation, dissatisfaction with cost of living and reform fatigue,” it said.
Separately the US bureau of labour statistics (BLS) said the closely watched employment report for January will not be released this Friday because of a partial shutdown of the federal government.
“The release will be rescheduled upon the resumption of government funding,” said Emily Liddel, associate commissioner at the bureau.
The government partially shut down on Saturday after Congress failed to approve a deal to keep a wide swath of operations, including the labour department, funded.
Last year’s shutdown resulted in no unemployment rate being published for October and big chunks of the consumer price index report were missing, injecting volatility in November’s reports. The latest shutdown, if it lasts longer than the envisaged few days, could further strain resources at the BLS. – Additional reporting: Reuters
