Government deficit and debt - 3. quarter of 2025
General government sector balance ended up in a deficit
Publication Date: 06. 01. 2026
Product Code: 050061-25
In the Q3 2025, the general government sector deficit reached CZK 25.4 billion, which means that in the year-on-year comparison it improved by CZK 6.2 bn. The central government balance was in a deficit of CZK 20.8 bn, which improved, year-on-year, by CZK 5.2 bn. The local government sector balance ended up with a deficit in the amount of CZK 5.6 bn, which is worsening by CZK 1.1 bn, year-on-year. Social security funds (of health insurance companies) performance ended up with a surplus of CZK 1.0 bn.
“In the third quarter of 2025, the general government sector balance ended up with a deficit of CZK 25.4 bn; expressed as a percentage of the GDP, the deficit corresponded to 1.2% of the GDP. The government debt ratio decreased by 0.3 p. p., year-on-year,” Helena Houžvičková, Director of the Government and Financial Accounts Department 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.)
| Q3 2023 | Q4 2023 | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CZK bn | -45.0 | -114.7 | -59.0 | 3.7 | -31.6 | -76.6 | -71.5 | 9.4 | -25.4 |
% of the GDP | -2.3 | -5.7 | -3.2 | 0.2 | -1.5 | -3.6 | -3.6 | 0.4 | -1.2 |
The total general government sector revenues increased by 7.2%, y-o-y, and reached 39.8% of the GDP. The y-o-y increase in revenues was mainly contributed to by the received social contributions and received income taxes. The total government expenditure increased by 6.2%, y-o-y, and reached 41.0% of the GDP. The biggest growth, as for the volume, was mainly recorded in the gross fixed capital formation and in compensation of employees paid.
The nominal debt of the general government increased, year-on-year, by CZK 174.8 bn to CZK 3 623.9 bn. The government debt ratio decreased from 43.4% to 43.1% of the GDP, year-on-year; the influence of the nominal change of the debt was +2.1 p. p., while the increasing nominal GDP contributed to a decrease in indebtedness by –2.4 p. p. In the q-o-q comparison, the debt decreased by CZK 3.3 bn, the nominal change of the debt was 0.0 p. p., whereas the increase of the nominal GDP contributed to a decrease of indebtedness by –0.7 p. p., which means that the debt ratio decreased, quarter-on-quarter, by 0.7 p. p.
Regarding the debt structure, mainly issued debt securities increased, y-o-y (CZK +133.1 bn).
In the third quarter of 2025, the quarter-on-quarter change in the debt (a decrease by CZK 3.3 bn) was significantly different from the general government sector balance (a deficit of CZK 25.4 bn). Bigger drawing of pooled deposits within cash pooling (consolidated on the general government sector level) was the main reason for the difference.
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 41.2 bn, which corresponded to 1.9% of the GDP. The general government sector balance worsened by CZK 0.9 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. 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 Government and Financial Accounts Department, phone number: (+420) 704 688 734, e-mail: helena.houzvickova@csu.gov.cz
Contact person: Jaroslav Kahoun, Head of the Government Accounts Unit, phone number: (+420) 274 054 232, e-mail: jaroslav.kahoun@csu.gov.cz
The next news release will be published on: 1 April 2026