Overview
- Municipalities, which Destatis said Wednesday ran a €31.9 billion financing gap in 2025, left 7.5% of spending uncovered and increasingly relied on short‑term cash loans, prompting Germany’s association of cities to demand at least €30 billion in annual federal aid.
- The Bundesbank reported Tuesday that government debt rose by €144 billion in 2025 to €2.84 trillion, lifting the debt‑to‑GDP ratio to 63.5% and keeping Germany above the EU’s 60% benchmark for a sixth straight year.
- Most of the increase came from federal borrowing, including extra budgets, which jumped by €107 billion compared with €36 billion the year before.
- The rise in debt exceeded the €119 billion Maastricht‑deficit figure because some new borrowing built financial assets, which do not count as a deficit under EU rules.
- The Bundesbank estimates Germany’s share of EU‑level consolidated debt at about €118 billion, equal to roughly 2.6% of national output.