For the year 2022, the balance of the general government sector ended up with a deficit corresponding to 3.2% of the GDP. The general government sector debt in the end of the year 2022 reached 44.2% of the GDP while the year-on-year increase was by 2.2 percentage points (p. p.).

“Compared to the spring notification, the balance of the general government sector improved by 0.4 p. p. mainly as a result of updated information on the corporation tax (corporate income tax) and ended up with a deficit of 3.2% of the GDP. The amount of debt remained almost unchanged and reached 44.2% of the GDP,” Helena Houžvičková, Director of the Government and Financial Accounts Department of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), stated.

The balance of the general government sector in 2022 has been revised compared to the notification from April 2023 by CZK 29.6 bn. Not only the central government sector balance improved (+CZK 15.9 bn); the local government sector balance improved, too (+CZK 11.0 bn). The reduction in the deficit was mainly caused by updated data on tax revenues from legal entities.

Table 1: Notification table of government deficit and debt, the Czech Republic, 2019–2022

The total general government sector revenue increased in 2022 by 11.0%, y-o-y; in absolute terms, it was an increase by CZK 277.9 bn. Revenues from social contributions and from income taxes were increasing the most; they were followed by taxes on production and imports.

The total general government sector expenditure increased in 2022 by 6.5%, y-o-y, i.e. by CZK 185.2 bn. Mainly the following increased: social benefits paid, gross capital formation expenditure, and interest paid. A decrease was recorded in subsidies.

In the end of 2022, the relative debt of the general government reached 44.2% of the GDP. In the year-on-year comparison, the relative indebtedness increased by 2.2 p. p. An increase in the nominal GDP contributed to a decrease of the relative amount of the debt (-4.2 p. p.), whereas the nominal amount of the debt increased in relation to the GDP by 6.4 p. p. 

Compared to the spring notification, the amount of the debt has been only slightly revised as for received loans (+CZK 0.5 bn). In the end of 2022, the general government debt reached CZK 2 997.6 bn. Major part of it consists of issued debt securities and received loans.

For the whole year 2022, the debt increase (CZK 430.9 bn) was considerably higher than the general government sector balance (-217.9 bn). The general government borrowed by CZK 213.0 bn more than their need for financing was, which was reflected on the side of assets, mainly by an increase of the value of provided loans, deposits, and other receivables.   

Indicators presented in the Table 1 were transmitted to Eurostat on 29 September 2023.