Germany's budget deficit rises to nearly 119 billion euros

According to preliminary data released by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the country's public budget deficit in 2024 will increase by 15 billion euros compared to the previous year.

The country's public revenues will increase by 4.8 percent compared to the previous year in 2024, reaching 2 trillion 12.9 billion euros, while its expenditures will increase by 5.3 percent, reaching 2 trillion 131.6 billion euros.

Thus, the budget deficit covering the federal government, states and municipalities amounted to approximately 118.8 billion euros. It is noteworthy that public revenues will exceed the 2 trillion euro limit for the first time in 2024.

The federal government had the largest deficit at €62.3 billion. Tax revenues and fees, which account for more than half of public revenues, increased by 3.5 percent.

Thanks to increased tax revenues, the federal government was able to reduce its fiscal deficit by 30.5 billion euros compared to the previous year, while the deficits of the states and municipalities widened significantly.

The states had a deficit of 27.3 billion euros in the period in question. The budget deficit of 16 states in 2023 was recorded as 9 billion euros.

The budget deficit in municipalities also increased by 7.6 billion euros compared to the previous year, reaching 18.6 billion euros. In the social security system, a deficit of 10.6 billion euros was seen in 2024, following a surplus of 9 billion euros in 2023.

The public budget deficit in Germany, which includes the federal government, states, local government and social security funds, was recorded as 91.4 billion euros in 2023.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Germany had a budget surplus for eight consecutive years.

Meanwhile, Germany's public budget deficit is expected to rise this year following calls for the economy to recover and for more money to be spent on defense.