Notification of general government deficit and debt according to the excessive deficit procedure - Years 2020-2023

In this release, Istat provides government deficit and debt data based on figures reported in the first 2024 notification by Italy to the EC for the years 2020-2023, for the application of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP). This notification is based on the ESA 2010 system of national accounts. No reservations have been expressed by Eurostat on the data reported by Italy.

The data published today differ from those released last April 5 (Quarterly non-financial accounts for general government, households income and savings and non-financial corporation profits – Q4 2023) as they take into account new information made available in the meantime. Compared to the accounts of 5 April, the new version presents a worsening of the deficit in relation to GDP by 0.2 percentage points.

Istat also provides information on the underlying government sector accounts, as well as on the contribution of deficit/surplus and other relevant factors to the variation in the debt level (stock-flow adjustment).

According to the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the EC Treaty, government deficit (surplus) means the net borrowing (net lending) of the whole general government sector (central government, state government, local government and social security funds). It is calculated according to national accounts concepts (European System of Accounts, ESA 2010). Government debt is the consolidated gross debt of the whole general government sector outstanding at the end of the year (at face value). For further references see the “Manual on government deficit and debt – Implementation of ESA 2010“, 2022 edition:

The government deficit to GDP ratio decreases from 8.6% in 2022 to 7.4% in 2023. The primary balance as a percentage of GDP is -3.6% in 2023, improving by 0.7 percentage points with respect to 2022.

The government debt to GDP ratio is 137.3% at the end of 2023, decreasing of 3.2 percentage points with respect to 2022. Data concerning the general government debt are compiled and disseminated by the Bank of Italy.