As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, public total finances were indebted by €2.726.5 billion for the non-public sector. According to preliminary results released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday, overall public debt increased by 2.4 percent, amounting to €64.9 billion, compared to the fourth quarter of 2025.
The public total finance includes the budgets of the federal government, states, municipalities, and local associations, as well as social security, encompassing all extra budgets. The non-public sector comprises credit institutions and other domestic and foreign entities, such as private companies both nationally and internationally.
The federal debt rose by €44.4 billion (+2.4 percent) from the previous quarter, reaching €1.884.9 billion. This increase was primarily driven by the rising debt of two special funds: the “Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality Special Fund” saw its debt climb by 44.7 percent or €10.9 billion, to €35.2 billion, while the “Armed Forces Special Fund” increased its debt by 10.2 percent or €4.4 billion, totaling €47.4 billion.
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the states were indebted by €642.2 billion, which represented an increase of 17.6 billion euros (+2.8 percent) over the previous quarter. Sachsen-Anhalt recorded the strongest percentage increase in debt at +10.2 percent, followed by Lower Saxony (+6.4 percent) and North Rhine-Westphalia (+4.6 percent). Sachsen-Anhalt’s rise in debt is attributed to the issuance of new securities, following the repayment of all securities issued in 2025 before the year’s end. Lower Saxony’s increase in Q1 also reflects that the state takes on new security debt for the entire year at the beginning of the fiscal year, resulting in a higher increase quarter-on-quarter. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the debt increase was caused by the assumption of municipalities’ old debts under the NRW Old Debt Relief Act. Additionally, new security debt was taken on in anticipation of securities maturing later in the year. Conversely, Bremen saw the largest percentage decline in debt at -4.2 percent, followed by Schleswig-Holstein (-1.5 percent) and Bavaria (-1.2 percent).
Debt among municipalities and local associations also rose by the end of the first quarter of 2026, increasing by €3.0 billion to €199.3 billion, or +1.5 percent. Bavaria reported the highest percentage increase among these entities at +7.6 percent, followed by municipalities in Brandenburg and Baden-Württemberg (both saw increases of +5.6 percent). In North Rhine-Westphalia, municipalities/local associations registered a debt decline of -2.8 percent due to the regional old debt relief legislation, enabling North Rhine-Westphalia to assume a share of their debts.
Meanwhile, the debt of social security decreased by €0.2 million (-1.8 percent) in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter, down to €9.3 million.
