€1.75 billion in last year's state budget was unspent
Of last year's €19.5 billion state budget, nine percent — €1.75 billion — remained unused. This is several hundred million euros less than the €2.1 billion recorded the year before.
"€1.2 billion of the unused budget is linked to expenditures that depend on revenue. Under the current methodology, the balance also includes the entire unused portion of multi-year project budgets, including the share that was originally planned to be used in subsequent years," said Viola Mäemurd, head of the Financial Management Department at the Ministry of Finance.
This year, the Ministry of Finance will analyze the methodology for accounting for revenue-dependent expenditures in order to make it better reflect actual budget use.
Of the unused funds, preliminary data shows that €295 million in state budget appropriations was carried over into this year — 44 percent less than the year before, according to Ministry of Finance calculations.
In addition, the balance of capped appropriations can also be used in a later year. The balance of capped spending stood at €379 million.
"This is the lowest level in the past six years, indicating that measures introduced in recent years to reduce balances have been effective. Compared to last year, the balance has decreased by one-third," Mäemurd said.
By decree, a minister may extend the use of capped appropriations by one year. From the 2025 budget, ministers and heads of constitutional institutions are preliminarily carrying over €295 million into 2026. A year earlier, €524 million was carried over, meaning the volume has nearly halved.
The largest decrease in carryovers occurred at the Ministry of Education and Research, where the amount dropped by €66 million compared with May last year. Last year, the timing of funding for the transition to Estonian-language education was adjusted, and the ministry planned expenditures more precisely across the relevant years. This was followed by the Ministry of Defense, where the carryover decreased by €58 million.
The Ministry of Defense carried the largest amount into 2026 — €44 million. The defense sector's capped budget for 2025 is €1.36 billion, with the carryover accounting for nearly three percent — proportionally the smallest among government sectors.
Proportionally, the largest shares of budgets carried over were in the Riigikogu (parliament) at 22 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications at 14 percent, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 13 percent.
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Editor: Huko Aaspõllu, Argo Ideon
