Germany Spends The Most On Social Spending In Europe
- 24.11.2025, 13:14
Research.
Germany's social spending of 41% of the federal budget is higher than that of all other European countries, including the Nordic states. This is the data of a study by the Institute of German Economics in Cologne (IW), reported by the Rheinische Post newspaper on its website on Sunday evening, November 23, reports DW.
For comparison: the Nordic countries, as well as Austria and Switzerland spend 40% of their budgets on social needs, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - 38%. The EU average is 39%.
The authors of the study point out that almost half of all social spending from the German federal budget is on pensions. Expenditures on health care amount to 16%. At the same level the corresponding indicator is at the states of Northern Europe and Benelux countries. It is the highest in Europe.
German spending on public administration is also relatively high. They increased from 7.2 to 11 percent during the study period. Meanwhile, spending on education in the Federal Republic of Germany accounts for only 9.3 percent of the state budget. By comparison, Austria and Switzerland, according to the study, spend almost 50 percentage points more on these purposes.
Defense spending in Germany in the period studied - from 2001 to 2023 - accounted for an average of 2.3 percent of the federal budget, which corresponds to 1.1 percent of GDP.
The Institute for German Economics analyzed various items of spending in the German federal budget from 2001 to 2023. It was about spending in general as well as spending on individual areas. The comparison was made in relation to Western European countries, which included the Benelux states, Austria and Switzerland, as well as to the Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, which are close to Germany in terms of economic development and cultural context.
The IW experts advise the government in Berlin to "resist further expansion of state activities and the growth of social spending".