Vatican reports 35.5% increase in profit from holdings for 2024

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -The Vatican reported on Monday a 62.2-million-euro ($72.5 million) profit from its financial and real estate holdings last year, up 35.5% from 2023, in a boon to Pope Leo's efforts to close a budget shortfall.

The Vatican's central asset management agency, however, also said in an annual report that it had reassessed the total value of its holdings down to 2.6 billion euros from 2.74 billion euros, due to a reassessment of its real estate holdings.

The Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA) said the reevaluation of its total holdings had taken several years and was partly based on fair value estimates from 2023.

Of the total 62.2 million euro profit reported for 2024, 38.1 million euros came through investments, said the statement.

The report said the agency had passed on 46.09 million euros for use in the Vatican's general budget, but would retain 16.1 million euros.

Leo, elected in May to replace the late Pope Francis, is facing both a Vatican budget shortfall and growing liabilities for the Vatican's pension fund.

Although the Vatican hasn't published a full budget report since 2022, accounts approved in mid-2024 included an 83-million-euro shortfall, two knowledgeable sources told Reuters.

The shortfall in the pension fund was estimated to total some 631 million euros by the Vatican's finance czar in 2022. There has been no official update to this figure, but several insiders have told Reuters they believe it has ballooned.

The Vatican maintains more than 5,400 real estate holdings worldwide, according to the new report. 4,234 of the holdings are in Italy, with 92% of those in the area around Rome, it said.

Another 1,200 Vatican real estate holdings are abroad, including in cities such as Paris, Geneva, Lausanne, and London, the report stated.

In 2024, the Vatican department reported a profit of 45.9 million euros for 2023.

The new report said the Vatican invests its portfolio "with the aim of diversifying investments and spreading out risk."

($1 = 0.8577 euros)

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Alvise Armellini and Bernadette Baum)