Government spending increased by almost 16 billion euro in 2020 - CSO

Spending by the Irish government increased by almost 16 billion euro in 2020, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 

The bulk of this expenditure was due to measures to combat Covid-19, such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) at a cost of €5.1bn. 

According to the Economic Life and COVID-19 in Ireland 2020-2021 report, over 870,000 people availed of PUP from March 2020 up to the week ending August 29 this year. 

Although government spending increased, the report shows decreased public spending such as household expenditure on restaurants and hotels. 

Revenue fell in this industry by €6.5billion. 

However, gross saving of households increased by 166% n 2020, reaching €31.5bn. 

The report notes that the purchase of alcoholic beverages for home consumption rose by almost €0.5billion. 

It's also noted that despite changes to the labour market throughout the pandemic, Gross Value Added rose by €18.9billion in 2020 year-on-year.