State Finances - Ifo: Census improves Hanseatic Caisse in Bremen - Berlin loses
Corrected population numbers in the recently published population census 2022, according to the Ifo-Institute for Bremen and Saarland, are particularly pleasing: Measured by the population size, these two small states will consequently receive significantly more money in the future, as the Munich economists have calculated. Bremen will therefore receive 242 Euro more per inhabitant, and Saarland 192 Euro extra, because the population numbers have been corrected upward.
The greatest loser is therefore Berlin with 129 Euro less per inhabitant, followed by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with a loss of minus 107 Euro and Hamburg with a loss of minus 103. The population census 2022 showed that there are approximately 1.4 million fewer people living in Germany than previously assumed. The states therefore have to reckon with higher losses, the greater their population size was corrected downward.
The state with the greatest gains in absolute numbers, according to the Ifo-Institute, will be the most populous federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, with additional revenues of around 584 million Euro per year - per inhabitant, this would be only 32 Euro more.
- Despite the population size reduction revealed in the 2022 Census, affecting all Federal States in Germany, Bremen and Saarland experienced significant population size increases, as confirmed by the Ifo-Institute.
- Financing in Bremen and Saarland is expected to improve substantially due to the corrected population numbers, resulting in an additional 242 Euro and 192 Euro per inhabitant, respectively.
- Berlin, on the contrary, faces a financial setback of 129 Euro per inhabitant, followed by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg with losses of 107 Euro and 103 Euro, respectively.
- According to the Ifo-Institute, North Rhine-Westphalia, being the most populous federal state, will receive the highest absolute financial gains from the adjusted population numbers, adding around 584 million Euro annually, equating to a modest 32 Euro extra per inhabitant.
- The development of the population size in Munich, while not receiving significant monetary gains, remains essential for the overall understanding of financial distributions in different Federal States following the 2022 Census.
- The relevance of the population census results for the long-term financial planning of the Federal States in Germany cannot be underestimated, and Saarland, Bremen, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, and all Federal States must take these figures into account when setting their budgets and planning their economic policies.
