Preliminary data released Tuesday by the Statistical Federal Office (Destatis) indicates a rise in Germany’s public debt. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the aggregate public sector debt stood at €2.5233 trillion, reflecting liabilities to the non-public sector. This represents a 0.6 percent increase, equivalent to €14.3 billion, compared to the end of 2024.
The aggregate public sector encompasses the budgets of the federal government, states (Länder), municipalities and municipal associations, along with social insurance, including all extra budgets. The non-public sector includes credit institutions and other domestic and foreign entities, such as private companies both domestically and abroad.
Federal government debt increased by a relatively modest €0.7 billion, or 0.3%, compared to the end of 2024. However, a disproportionate rise of 12.8 percent, or €2.9 billion, was observed in the “Special Fund for the Armed Forces” (Bundeswehr), bringing its total debt to €25.9 billion.
State (Länder) debt reached €615.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2025, up €8.6 billion, or 1.4 percent, relative to the end of 2024. The most significant percentage increases in debt were recorded in Saxony (+16.5 percent), Saxony-Anhalt (+11.2 percent) and Lower Saxony (+6.8 percent). Saxony’s increase is attributed to heightened borrowing needs and upcoming refinancing of state treasury bills. In Lower Saxony, an increase in debt is a result of accounting adjustments made during the year-end closing process and is projected to be reduced through scheduled repayments throughout the year.
Rhineland-Palatinate experienced the largest decrease in debt, falling by -2.6 percent. This reduction is linked to typical interim liquidity developments. Brandenburg (-0.8 percent) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (-0.8 percent) also registered significant percentage declines in their debt levels.
Debt among municipalities and municipal associations also rose, increasing by €5.0 billion, or 3.0 percent, to a total of €174.4 billion compared to the end of 2024.
The largest percentage increases in municipal and municipal association debt were observed in Schleswig-Holstein (+6.0 percent), Bavaria (+5.2 percent) and Lower Saxony (+4.9 percent). Thuringia was the only region to report a decrease, falling by a marginal -0.1 percent.
Social insurance debt decreased slightly, falling by €0.5 million, or -1.3 percent, to €38.2 million compared to the end of 2024.
