Social security with approximately 37 percent largest expenditure block from federal budget
The area of social security includes state benefits within the framework of social minimum security systems, which serve to ensure the basic livelihood. This includes, for example, subsidies from the Federal Government to the statutory pension insurance system. Since the Federal Government spent a smaller share of its total expenditures on social security in the last instance, this is also related to the increased expenditures in other areas.
For economic matters, the Federal Government spent 21.9% of its total expenditures in 2023. This was partly due to the introduction of the Germany ticket. Before the Coronapandemic, only 9.8% of the budget went to this area in 2019. Therefore, the proportion of expenditures for economic matters more than doubled. It was also significantly above the long-term average of 13.2% for the years 1991 to 2023.
A larger share than in 2023, according to the figures, was only spent on economic matters in the year 1995, with 41.4% of the budget. At that time, the Federal Government had taken over the debts of the Treuhandanstalt. Expenditures for economic matters include, among other things, economic programs such as the extensive Coronahilfs and relief packages during the energy price crisis, but also expenditures in the transport sector.
A quarter or 25.2% of the Federal Government's expenditures in 2023 went to the general public administration. This proportion rose again since the lowest point of 21.9% in 2021. However, it was still below the pre-Coronavirus level of 26.4% in 2019 and below the long-term average of 29.9% for the years 1991 to 2023.
Among the Federal Government's expenditures for the general public administration, there are also interest payments, which have recently risen significantly due to the end of the low-interest phase from mid-2022.
According to the statistics of the Federal Statisticians, the largest expenditure block is defense. In 2023, defense accounted for 7.1% of all federal expenditures. Despite a slight increase compared to the previous year 2022, with a share of 6.8% at that time, the proportion of defense expenditures was below the pre-Coronavirus level in 2019, which was 9%. It was also below the long-term average since reunification, which was 8.1%.
Defense expenditures pushed health expenditures back to fourth place again. These had risen significantly in the pandemic years - and to a record share of 8.3% in 2022. In 2023, health expenditures fell both in absolute terms and in relative terms. They accounted for 1.8% of the total expenditures of the Federal Government.
Their share was roughly at the pre-Coronavirus level of 1.6% in 2019. The long-term average was also 1.6%. The Federal Government's expenditures for health fell behind the education sector in 2023.
For education, which is largely the responsibility of the federal states, the Federal Government spent 3.1% of its budget in 2023. Before the pandemic, it was 3.5% of the budget in 2019, and in the long-term average of the years 1991 to 2023, it was 2%.
Overall, the Federal Government spent approximately 626.7 billion Euros in accordance with economic accounting in current prices in 2023. Measured against the economic output of Germany, this corresponds to 15.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
Before the outbreak of the Coronapandemic, the federal expenditures had the lowest standing at 12.5% of the GDP in the years 2016, 2018, and 2019. Due to the extensive Coronahelfen, the expenditures reached 17% of the GDP in the year 2021, since then they have been decreasing again.
- The impact of the Corona-Pandemic on the budget also affected the social security sector, with a decrease in the percentage of expenditures allocated to this area.
- In response to the economic challenges brought about by the Corona-Pandemic, a significant bundle of security measures was implemented, including the introduced Germany-ticket.
- The Statistical Federal Office reported a decrease in the percentage of expenditures for social security in Germany, dropping from thirty-seven percent in 1995 to twelve point five percent in 2019, before the Corona-Pandemic.
- In the 2023 budget, the allocation for the budget block of social security formed a smaller part, reflecting the shift in focus towards other areas affected by the Corona-Pandemic.
