Expenditure on nursing and care services is rising significantly faster than overall health spending. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday, the share of nursing services in total German healthcare spending jumped by 5.4 percentage points between 2014 and 2024. In 2024, care services accounted for €135.9 billion, representing robust quarter of (25.3%) all health expenditures in Germany. This marks a substantial increase compared to a decade earlier, when such costs were only €65.0 billion, making up 19.8% of total health spending of €327.7 billion. Over this ten-year period, the spending on care services has more than doubled, showing a growth of 109.1%.
Several factors contribute to this rapid escalation, including changes implemented in the Eleventh Book of the Social Code (SGB XI) starting in 2017, increasing costs for care personnel, and demographic shifts. These care services encompass basic, treatment, and intensive nursing care, which are provided in various settings-including outpatient, semi-stationary care facilities, hospitals, and private homes. Overall healthcare expenditures in 2024 reached €538.2 billion, a rise of almost two-thirds (64.2%) since 2014.
Looking at the broader cost structure, expenses beyond nursing services include medical and therapeutic treatments, dental prosthetics, the provision of medicines and aids, and patient accommodation and meals. Medical services themselves made up 23.6% of total healthcare costs. Expenditures for medical care, which cover basic, special, laboratory, and radiological diagnostics, increased by 45.7% compared to 2014. Pharmaceuticals constituted 15.8% of total health spending, rising by 67.5% between 2014 and 2024, according to the agency.
