Last year, 629 private citizens transferred money to the federal government’s debt‑repayment account, bringing in a total of €123,107.69-about €49,000 more than the year before, the Stern reported on the basis of a statement from the Federal Finance Ministry.
The account was created by the federal government in 2006 to record and account for citizen contributions toward state‑debt repayment separately within the national budget. Since its inception, roughly €1.7 million has been deposited. According to a spokesperson for Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD), all receipts are recorded under budget line 32-“Federal Debt”-and, pursuant to budgetary comment No. 2, they are earmarked exclusively for debt repayment.
If the current flow were to persist, the Federal Republic would-calculatively-reach a debt‑free status in about 21 million years, assuming no new loans are taken on. The federal debt currently totals roughly €1.8 trillion.
In 2025 the largest single contribution to the account was €24,000, while the smallest was just one cent. The Finance Ministry cannot comment on how to encourage citizens to voluntarily deposit money into the account.
