The public sector in Liechtenstein generated a budget surplus of just under 177 million Swiss francs in 2021. Both income and expenditure were down on the prior year. Government spending amounted to 22.6 percent of GDP.
According to the Financial statistics 2021 published by the Office for Statistics (AS), the public sector in Liechtenstein recorded income of 1.854 billion Swiss francs in 2021. In comparison with the previous year, this equates to a decline of 20.4 percent. At 52.3 percent, taxation again made the greatest contribution to the public purse in 2021.
During the reporting year, income was offset by government spending in the amount of 1.678 billion Swiss francs overall, reflecting a decline of 10.9 percent year on year. At 34.4 percent and 21.6 percent respectively, social security benefits and compensation for employees accounted for the largest share of public expenditure. A total of 82.3 million Swiss francs, or 4.9 percent of government spending, was attributable to investments.
All in all, a positive budget balance of 176.8 million Swiss francs was reported for 2021. After the exceptional year 2020, which was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country returned to a degree of normality in 2021, as the AS writes. Government spending amounted to 22.6 percent of Liechtenstein’s GDP, having stood at 25.1 percent in the prior year.
The state’s net assets totaled approximately 9.8 billion francs as at year-end 2021. This represents an increase of 389.9 million francs (+4.2 percent) on the previous year. Just under 42 percent of the state’s net assets are held by social security funds, with the state level accounting for a share of 36.6 percent in this regard, and 21.4 percent attributable to municipalities and citizen cooperatives.
