In 2025, German municipalities collected approximately 76.4 billion euros from trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) revenues. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this represents an increase of roughly 1.1 billion euros, or 1.5 percent, compared to the previous year. This figure also established a new record for trade tax earnings. Following a decrease in the initial Covid year of 2020, trade tax revenues had been rising to new highs since the beginning of the data series in 1991, specifically between 2021 and 2024.
The regions that saw the largest increases in trade tax revenue were Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland, both with a rise of 13.0 percent, alongside Hamburg, which increased by 11.1 percent. In total, eleven federal states experienced higher revenue, while five saw a decline. These were Bremen, down 12.0 percent; Baden-Württemberg, down 7.2 percent; followed by Saxony, down 6.9 percent; Brandenburg, down 6.8 percent; and Rhineland-Palatinate, down 4.7 percent.
Aside from trade tax, municipal collection from property taxes showed varied results. In 2025, the total revenue from Property Tax A, which is levied on the assets of agricultural and forestry operations, amounted to 0.3 billion euros. This marked a 19.6 percent decrease from the year before. Municipalities collected 15.8 billion euros from Property Tax B, which applies to properties outside of agriculture and forestry, resulting in a modest increase of 0.7 percent. Only a few municipalities utilized the option to implement Property Tax C on undeveloped building land, generating total revenues of 5.8 million euros in 2025. Overall, the total revenue from all property taxes remained unchanged at 16.1 billion euros compared to the previous year.
Combining property and trade taxes, German municipalities earned approximately 92.5 billion euros in real estate taxes in 2025. This represents a rise of 1.2 billion euros, or 1.3 percent, compared to 2024.
The final revenue amounts for property taxes and trade taxes are heavily influenced by the local tax rates (Hebesätze) set by the municipalities. In 2025, the average municipal rate for trade tax across Germany was 410 percent, an increase of one percentage point over the prior year. For Property Tax A, the average rate rose significantly, increasing by 15 percentage points compared to 2024, reaching 377 percent.
