Government deficit and debt - 1. quarter of 2026
General government sector ended up with the deficit of 3.5% of the GDP in the Q1
Publication Date: 01. 07. 2026
Product Code: 050061-26
In the Q1 2026, the general government sector deficit reached CZK 72.3 billion, which means that it worsened by CZK 1.6 billion in the year-on-year comparison. The central government ended up with a deficit of CZK 82.7 billion that improved by CZK 17.0 billion, y-o-y. Performance of the local government sector ended up with a surplus in the amount of CZK 12.0 billion, which means, in a year-on-year comparison, worsening by CZK 19.9 billion. Performance of social security funds (of health insurance companies) ended up with a deficit of CZK 1.6 billion, by CZK 1.2 billion lower, year-on-year.
“In the first quarter of 2026, the general government sector ended up with a deficit of CZK 72.3 billion, which is in relative terms 3.5% of the GDP. The government debt ratio increased to 44.1% of the GDP, year-on-year,” Helena Houžvičková, Director of the Macroeconomic Statistics Section of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), stated.
Tab. 1.1 The general government sector balance
(Data in the table are not seasonally adjusted; they cannot be compared quarter-on-quarter.)
| Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CZK bn | -59.8 | 4.2 | -31.2 | -76.6 | -70.7 | 9.7 | -25.0 | -97.7 | -72.3 |
% of the GDP | -3.2 | 0.2 | -1.5 | -3.6 | -3.6 | 0.5 | -1.1 | -4.3 | -3.5 |
The total government revenues increased by 5.1%, y-o-y, and reached 40.2% of the GDP. Especially the following contributed to the y-o-y increase in revenues: received social contributions and received taxes on production and imports. The total government expenditure increased by 4.9%, y-o-y, and reached 43.7% of the GDP. The highest growth in terms of volume was mainly recorded in social benefits payable, gross fixed capital formation, and in compensation of employees paid.
The nominal debt of the general government increased, year-on-year, by CZK 292.6 bn to CZK 3 827.9 bn. The government debt ratio increased from 43.3% to 44.1% of the GDP, y-o-y; the influence of the nominal change of the debt was +3.3 p. p., while the increasing nominal GDP reduced the debt ratio by –2.5 p. p. In the quarter-on-quarter comparison, the debt increased by CZK 41.6 bn, the nominal change of the debt was 0.4 p. p., whereas an increase in the nominal GDP contributed to a decrease in the indebtedness by –0.5 p. p., which resulted in a decrease in the debt ratio by 0.1 p. p., quarter-on-quarter.
Regarding the debt structure, a year-on-year increase was mainly recorded in issued debt securities (CZK +307.8 bn).
Chart 1.1 Debt of the general government sector
Chart 1.2 Year-on-year relative changes in government debt
The general government sector balance after seasonal adjustment as well as adjustment for calendar effects ended up with a deficit of CZK 50.7 bn, which corresponded to 2.3% of the GDP. The general government sector balance worsened by CZK 3.0 bn, q-o-q. The development of the general government sector balance adjusted by seasonal and calendar effects is shown in the chart below.
Chart 1.3 Seasonally adjusted general government sector balance
Notes
Quantification of fiscal indicators of government deficit and debt mentioned above is based on the ESA2010 methodology. Data published in this news release are methodologically consistent with the data used for the statistics of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) purposes and for the assessment of how Maastricht convergence criteria are met.
The government surplus/deficit is represented by the item B.9 “net borrowing (−) or net lending (+)” in the system of national accounts. It refers to the ability of the general government sector to finance other sectors of the economy (+) or the need of the general government sector to be financed (−) by other sectors of the economy in the given period.
The general government debt is the amount of consolidated liabilities of the general government sector comprising the following items: received deposits, issued debt securities, and received loans. In case of foreign exchange debt instruments hedged against the currency risk, the value in CZK is obtained by means of the contractual exchange rate.
The general government sector balance is compared with the amount of the GDP in the given quarter at current prices. The amount of the consolidated general government debt is compared with the sum of quarterly GDP for the last four quarters at current prices. Fiscal indicators of quarterly government deficit and debt are published within the Transmission programme (Tab. 25 and Tab. 28) on the CZSO’s website General government sector in the “GDP, National Accounts” section. Unless otherwise stated, data are not seasonally adjusted as well as they are not adjusted for calendar effects. The time series of seasonally adjusted sector accounts for the government sector (the item of net lending / net borrowing): Time series of seasonally adjusted sector accounts for S.13.
Responsible head at the CZSO: Helena Houžvičková, Director of the Macroeconomic Statistics Section, T: +420 704 688 734, E: helena.houzvickova@csu.gov.cz
Contact person: Jaroslav Kahoun, Head of the Government Accounts Unit, T:+420 274 054 232, E: jaroslav.kahoun@csu.gov.cz
The next news release will be published on: 1 October 2026