Overview
- Statistisches Bundesamt reported on Monday that Germany’s state gross investments rose 12.3% in 2025 to €147.5 billion, the largest annual increase recorded in the agency’s series.
- The increase was concentrated in equipment investment, which jumped 47.7% in 2025 and includes military weapons systems and other Bundeswehr procurements under the national accounts definition.
- Investment growth slowed in the first quarter of 2026 to a 3.2% year‑on‑year rise, with equipment spending still up but state construction investment falling by 1.5% after weather-related delays.
- Policy analysts highlighted that some spending came from special funds for defence and investment and warned that parts of that financing may have been used for non-investive measures instead of adding net public capital.
- Despite the rise, state investment was 3.3% of GDP in 2025 and 6.5% of total state spending, leaving Germany below the euro‑area (3.7%) and EU (3.9%) averages and open to questions about sustainable, additional investment.