Based on findings from the 2025 over-indebtedness statistics provided by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), illness, addiction, or accidents were the most common primary triggers for debt, affecting 18 percent of people who sought assistance from debtor counseling services. Unemployment ranked as the second most frequent cause, at approximately 17 percent.
Overall, the average debt level among all individuals receiving counseling reached €34,650. There were noticeable gender differences in debt burden: men reported an average debt of €39,717, significantly higher than the €29,500 recorded for women.
Among single parents, family changes were a particularly frequent source of financial difficulty. For single mothers, separation, divorce, or the death of a partner was the main trigger in about 23 percent of cases, a similar percentage observed among single fathers. The average debt for single mothers was €34,386, while single fathers carried a substantially higher financial load, averaging €46,219.
Examing household size, Destatis reported that single-person households constituted the largest group among those seeking advice in 2025. Over half (just under 52 percent) of all counseled individuals lived alone. For nearly a quarter of these solo residents (around 24 percent), health problems were the most significant cause of their over-indebtedness. The average liabilities for single-person households amounted to €32,155. Similar to the general population, single individuals showed gender disparities in debt; while single men had average liabilities of €35,293, these figures were markedly lower for single women at €27,629.
Furthermore, the liabilities of people seeking counseling were often owed to multiple creditors at the same time. The most common area of outstanding debt was toward public institutions, such as tax offices, state pension and health insurers, and the Federal Employment Agency and its job centers. In 2025, more than half (about 57 percent) of those counseled had open claims with these public bodies. Debts toward telecommunications companies were also prevalent, accounting for approximately 47 percent of cases. Round loans from credit institutions affected around 37 percent of the cases, and nearly 29 percent of individuals owed outstanding invoices from online and mail-order retailers.
