The public deficit of Spain's national government, excluding local corporations, amounted to €5.039 billion in the first quarter, reflecting a 23.1% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This surge is attributed to the financial impact of severe weather events that affected the country recently.

In relative terms, the deficit-to-GDP ratio for the public administration stands at 0.3%, a rise from 0.26% recorded in the first quarter of 2024. According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, excluding extraordinary expenses related to the severe weather events—amounting to €2.686 billion, or 0.16% of GDP—the public deficit would have been €2.353 billion, signifying a 42.5% decrease year-on-year.

The central government reported a deficit of €4.010 billion in the first quarter, representing 0.24% of GDP, a shift from the surplus recorded in the previous year.

This was largely due to increased expenditures, including a significant allocation of €1.757 billion to local corporations for recovery efforts related to the weather disasters, as well as heightened transfers to the Social Security system.

Conversely, regional governments (Comunidad Autónoma) have shown an improvement, with a cumulative deficit of €4.654 billion, which is 20.2% lower than in 2024, translating to 0.28% of GDP. This improvement is credited to increased advances from the funding system and a robust collection of tax revenues.

Only the regions of Navarra, País Vasco, and Asturias recorded a surplus during this period, with ratios of 0.7%, 0.24%, and 0.13% of their respective GDPs.

The highest deficits among the autonomous communities were noted in the Balearic Islands at 0.89% of GDP, followed by Extremadura at 0.63%, and Murcia at 0.62%.

Despite registering a weather-related expenditure of €389 million, the Comunidad Valenciana managed to reduce its deficit to 0.28% of its GDP, thanks to improvements in financial advances received.

The Social Security system achieved a surplus of €3.625 billion, nearly tripling its figure from 2024, which corresponds to 0.22% of GDP. This increase is attributed to higher transfers and rising social security contributions linked to the positive trends in the labor market and intergenerational equity mechanisms.

In April, the Ministry of Finance released budget execution data indicating a deficit of €963 million for the state, contrasting with a surplus of €885 million reported during the same period in 2024. This current deficit equates to 0.06% of GDP, a drop from the previous year’s positive ratio.

In response to the severe weather incidents, spending totaled €2.022 billion, of which €1.763 billion was allocated for transfers to local authorities, representing 0.12% of GDP. This spending, combined with increased costs in subsidies (up 37.1%), debt interest (up 14.5%), and salaries (up 4.8%, partly due to wage increases for the Armed Forces), escalated total state expenditure to €94.430 billion, reflecting a 10.4% increase.

State revenues, on the other hand, grew by 8.2% to €93.467 billion, driven by a healthy performance in tax collection, which reached €80.676 billion—an increase of 9.4%.

The three primary tax revenues saw significant growth, with personal income tax (IRPF) rising by 13.4%, corporate tax revenue increasing by 12.9%, and Value Added Tax (IVA) up by 9.2%.

This growth mitigated the impact of reduced collections from the temporary energy and financial taxes, while a new banking tax has yet to commence its first collection period.