The public sector budget of Germany is divided among the administrative divisions of the country.
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany breaks down the 2023 general government budget into the following categories:[1][2][3]
| Item | Central government | Social security | Regional and local government | EU shares |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues (billion €) |
526.2 | 820.7 | 887.3 | 34.2 |
| Expenditures (billion €) |
613.9 | 818.0 | 894.3 | 34.2 |
| Balance (billion €) |
-87.6 | 2.7 | -7.0 | 0.0 |
The International Monetary Fund reports Germany's government revenue and expenditure amounted to 47.0% and 49.5% of GDP in 2022.[4]
In terms of accounting period, the national government's fiscal year aligns with the calendar year (1 January to 31 December).
Since 2009, Germany has a balanced budget amendment in its Constitution, which restricts annual structural deficits to 0.35% of GDP.[5][6][7]
Purpose
editThe primary purpose of the budget is to create an overview of the country's revenues and expenses for the following fiscal year or years. Since the budget is based on past expenditures, it is merely a prediction of the future which can lead to unexpected budget deficits as the fiscal year progresses. In the short term, such deficits are commonly financed by borrowing money which has led to the significant long-term debt of the German federal government.
Procedure
editThe Bundestag passes the budget as an addendum to the annual or bi-annual budget act (Art. 110, Basic Law). Revenues and expenses are separated by ministries and other administrative entities.
Budget guidelines
editSpecific guidelines established by law govern the creation of the budget. Specifically, these are:
- Completeness: the budget must include all instances of revenues and expenditures separately.
- Clarity: the budget must be organized along ministry and functional lines.
- Unity: the budget must include all revenues and expenditures
- Accuracy: revenues and expenditures must be estimated based on actual fair market value or expected values. To avoid manipulations, such estimates are conducted by a separate official body.
- Historical Succession: the budget must be enacted before the fiscal year starts. If there is no budget for the current fiscal year, the previous budget continues in effect.
- Specificity: expenditures must be designated as falling into a specific area, at a specific time, and at a specific level.
- Publicity: all debates on the budget in the Bundestag as well as the final enacted budget are publicly available and accessible. Some expenditures, however, may be classified with appropriate restrictions on who can access information on those.
Example budget
editThe federal budget for 2021 is €369.3 billion.[8] With total government spending of €1.76 trillion in 2021, the federal budget comprises only a fraction of total public sector spending in Germany.[9]
Germany's budget for the 2005 fiscal year can be found below, which also outlines the basic budget structure.
| Function | Description | Expenditures[note 1] |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Federal President | 23,636 |
| 02 | Bundestag | 550,920 |
| 03 | Bundesrat | 19,952 |
| 04 | Federal Chancellor | 1,510,084 |
| 05 | Federal Foreign Office | 2,205,783 |
| 06 | Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community | 4,216,641 |
| 07 | Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection | 338,592 |
| 08 | Ministry of Finance | 4,041,769 |
| 09 | Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy | 37,974,665 |
| 10 | Ministry of Food and Agriculture | 5,106,957 |
| 12 | Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure | 23,255,509 |
| 14 | Ministry of Defence | 23,900,000 |
| 15 | Ministry of Health | 84,409,880 |
| 16 | Ministry of Environment, Natural Conservation and Nuclear Security | 769,024 |
| 17 | Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth | 4,571,691 |
| 19 | Federal Constitutional Court | 17,631 |
| 20 | Federal Auditing Office | 86,668 |
| 23 | Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development | 3,859,093 |
| 30 | Ministry for Education and Research | 8,540,422 |
| 32 | Federal Debt | 40,431,841 |
| 33 | Support | 8,821,008 |
| 60 | General Financial Administration | (261,766) |
| Total: | 254,300,000 | |
- Notes
- ^ Estimated budget authority as presented in the budget (in thousand EUR)
References
edit- ^ Statistisches Bundesamt (2024-04-05). "Revenue of the overall public budget 2022 and 2023". Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ Statistisches Bundesamt (2024-04-05). "Expenditure of the overall public budget 2022 and 2023". Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ Statistisches Bundesamt (2024-04-05). "Financial balance of the overall public budget 2022 and 2023". Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ International Monetary Fund (2024). "Germany: Datasets". Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ "Germany's debt brake and the art of fantasy budgeting". The Economist. 2024. ISSN 0013-0613.
- ^ "Meet the Economist Leading Germany's Battle Against Debt". Bloomberg.com. 2024-07-13.
- ^ "What is Germany's debt brake?". DW. 2023.
- ^ "Draft 2019 budget and financial plan to 2022: Forward-looking, fair and responsible - Federal Ministry of Finance - Press".
- ^ "Expenditure of the overall public budget: 2021 and 2022". Federal Statistical Office of Germany. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-12-03.