NTMA welcomes Standard & Poor’s upgrade of Ireland’s sovereign debt rating to AA+
- First upgrade from S&P since May 2023
- Upgrade returns Ireland to S&P’s AA+ rating for the first time since 2009
- AA+ is S&P’s second highest rating
20 March 2026 – The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) welcomes today’s Standard and Poor’s (S&P) upgrade of Ireland's long-term sovereign credit rating to AA+ (from AA), with a stable outlook.
AA+ is S&P’s second-highest rating (after AAA).
This is the first upgrade of Ireland’s rating from S&P since May 2023 and is the first time that S&P has rated Ireland at AA+ since 2009. It also brings Ireland to its highest rating with any of the main rating agencies.
S&P also affirmed Ireland’s short-term rating at S&P’s highest level of A-1+.
In making its decision to upgrade, S&P cited several factors as key rating drivers. These include a strong economic and budgetary performance, the strengthening of fiscal buffers, a continued decline in net debt and a favourable structure of Government debt, supported by its long average maturity and the extent to which existing borrowing is at fixed rates.
Dave McEvoy, Director of Funding and Debt Management at the NTMA, said:
“Today’s S&P rating upgrade to AA+ is another positive development for Ireland. It reflects positive international investor sentiment and further improvements in Ireland’s debt metrics, with Irish bonds now trading close to core European sovereign issuers.
This upgrade follows a strong start to our 2026 funding programme. We have already issued €6.25 billion of benchmark bonds this year, from a total funding range for the year of €10 billion to €14 billion.”