The financial balance of the government sector ended the second quarter of 2024 with a deficit equivalent to 0.2% of GDP. The debt level of the government sector reached 42.6% of GDP.

The deficit of the government sector in the second quarter of 2024 amounted to 3.5 billion Czech crowns, which represents an improvement of 14.0 billion crowns compared to the previous year. Central government institutions operated with a deficit of 50.8 billion crowns, which decreased by 13.6 billion crowns year-on-year. Local government institutions operated with a surplus of 50.5 billion crowns, which represents an increase of 4.8 billion crowns compared to the previous year. Social security funds (health insurance companies) operated with a deficit of 3.1 billion crowns.

"In the second quarter of 2024, government institutions operated with a deficit of 3.5 billion crowns, which represented 0.2% of GDP in relative terms. The relative debt level of the government sector remained unchanged year-on-year, at 42.6% of GDP," said **Helena Houžvičková**, director of the government and financial accounts department at the Czech Statistical Office.


Financial balance of the government sector, second quarter of 2022 – second quarter of 2024

Period2Q 20223Q 20224Q 20221Q 20232Q 20233Q 20234Q 20231Q 20242Q 2024
Billions of crowns1.9-55.6-99.0-112.5-17.5-47.3-110.8-65.3-3.5
% of GDP0.1-3.1-5.3-6.3-0.9-2.4-5.6-3.5-0.2

Note: The figures in the table are not seasonally adjusted and cannot be compared on a quarter-on-quarter basis.


Total revenues of the government sector increased year-on-year by 5.6% and reached 42.0% of GDP. The increase in revenues was mainly due to social contributions, taxes on production and imports, and taxes on pensions. A decrease was recorded in income from property. Total expenditures of the government sector increased year-on-year by 3.8% and reached 42.2% of GDP. The largest increase was in social benefits.

The nominal debt of the government sector increased year-on-year by 169.3 billion crowns to 3,320.0 billion crowns. The debt level of the government sector remained at the same level of 42.6% of GDP year-on-year, with the nominal change in debt contributing +2.2 percentage points, while the growing nominal GDP contributed to a decrease in debt of -2.2 percentage points. Quarter-on-quarter, the debt decreased by 17.5 billion crowns, the nominal change in debt was -0.3 percentage points, while the growth of nominal GDP contributed to a decrease in debt of -0.5 percentage points, resulting in a quarter-on-quarter decrease in the debt level of 0.8 percentage points.

In terms of individual components of debt, the largest year-on-year increase was recorded in issued securities (+179.4 billion crowns), while borrowed funds decreased (-16.8 billion crowns).


Debt of the government sector, second quarter of 2022 – second quarter of 2024

[Image of government debt, October 2024] The operating balance of government institutions, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, ended with a deficit of 47.8 billion Czech crowns, which corresponds to 2.4% of GDP. Quarter-on-quarter, the operating balance improved by 2.3 billion Czech crowns. The development of the operating balance of government institutions, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, is illustrated in the following graph. [Image of seasonally adjusted operating balance of government institutions, Q2 2022 – Q2 2024] [Link to csu.cz/gnews - RoZ] [Illustrative photo - pixabay]