Per capita debt rises to 28,943 euros in 2023

Destatis reports: Federal, state and local governments record higher debt, while per capita debt rises by €778 to €28,943

Wiesbaden, July 29, 2024 - At the end of 2023, the total public budget (federal government, federal states, municipalities and municipal associations as well as social security including all extra budgets) was indebted to the non-public sector to the tune of EUR 2,445.1 billion. According to the final results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this corresponds to per capita debt in Germany of EUR 28,943, which is EUR 778 more than at the end of 2022. The non-public sector includes credit institutions and private companies in Germany and abroad.

Increase in public debt

Public debt rose by 3.3% or 77.1 billion euros compared to the end of 2022, the highest national debt level ever measured at the end of the year. The increase resulted from higher federal, municipal and social security debts, while the federal states were able to reduce debt.

Without including the new public transport companies included in the statistics, the debt level at the end of 2023 would have been EUR 2,435.4 billion, EUR 9.8 billion lower and would have amounted to EUR 28,827 per capita. The change compared to the end of 2022 would then have been +2.8% or +67.3 billion euros or +663 euros per capita.

Debt development of the federal government

At the end of 2023, the federal government was 1,696.3 billion euros in debt, an increase of 75.9 billion euros or 4.7% compared to 2022. This increase was mainly due to the extra budgets "Economic Stabilization Fund for Energy" and "Special Fund for the Federal Armed Forces", which together accounted for 47.3 billion euros. Per capita, federal debt amounted to 20,078 euros (2022: 19,272 euros).

Debt development of the federal states

Compared to the previous year, the debt of the federal states fell by 12.7 billion euros or 2.1% to 594.2 billion euros. Per capita debt amounted to 7,033 euros (2022: 7,218 euros). Without the debts of the newly added public transport companies, the debt reduction would have been 2.6% or 15.9 billion euros and the debt level would have been 591.0 billion euros or 6,995 euros per capita.

Debt development of municipalities and municipal associations

The debt of municipalities and associations of municipalities rose by 13.8 billion euros or 9.8% to 154.6 billion euros. This results in per capita debt of 1,979 euros (2022: 1,810 euros). Without the public transport companies, the increase to 148.1 billion euros or 1,895 euros per capita would have been lower.

Debt of the city states and territorial states

The city states continued to have the highest per capita debt: Bremen with 34,012 euros (2022: 33,264 euros), Hamburg with 17,095 euros (2022: 17,731 euros) and Berlin with 16,602 euros (2022: 16,558 euros). Without public transport companies, debt would be EUR 33,568 in Bremen, EUR 16,232 in Hamburg and EUR 16,313 in Berlin.

Saarland was in the lead among the territorial states with EUR 13,187 (2022: EUR 13,651) per capita, followed by Schleswig-Holstein with EUR 10,737 (2022: EUR 11,188). Without public transport companies, the debt in Schleswig-Holstein would be EUR 10,726 per capita, while there would be no change in Saarland.

Lowest per capita debt

Bavaria had the lowest per capita debt at EUR 1,297 (2022: EUR 1,425) and Saxony at EUR 1,405 (2022: EUR 1,352). Both states swapped places, as Bavaria recorded a debt of 9.0% and Saxony an increase of 3.9%. The decrease in Bavaria resulted from a bond that matured and was not fully refinanced.

Development of social insurance debt

At the end of 2023, social insurance was indebted to the tune of EUR 0.49 (2022: EUR 0.26) per capita. Total debt increased by 89.4% to 41 million euros (2022: 22 million euros).