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Wiesbaden – The social security area accounted for the largest share of federal government expenditure last year. It accounted for 37.1 percent of total federal government expenditure in terms of national economic accounts, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced today.
The social security share was below the level of the pre-Corona years: in 2019 it was 45.2 percent. Expenditure was also below the long-term average of 41.7 percent between 1991 and 2023.
The area of social security includes state benefits within the framework of minimum social security systems, which serve to guarantee basic means of subsistence. This also includes federal subsidies for the statutory pension insurance system. The fact that the federal government has recently spent a smaller proportion of its total expenditure on social security is also due to the increased proportion of expenditure in other areas.
The federal government spent 21.9 percent of its total expenditure on economic matters. This was, among other things, associated with the introduction of the German ticket. Before the corona pandemic, this area accounted for only 9.8 percent in 2019. This means that the proportion of expenditure on economic matters more than doubled. It was also well above the long-term average of 13.2 percent for the years 1991 to 2023.
According to the information, expenditure on economic issues only accounted for a larger share in 2023 than in 1995, at 41.4 percent. At that time, the federal government had taken over the debts of the Treuhandanstalt. Expenditure on economic issues includes, among other things, economic stimulus programs such as the extensive aid packages and Corona aid in the wake of the energy price crisis, but also expenditure in the area of transport.
The federal government spent a quarter or 25.2 percent of its total expenditure in 2023 on general public administration. This means that the share of administration increased again since the 2021 low to 21.9 percent. However, it was still below the pre-corona level of 26.4 percent in 2019 and below the long-term average of 29.9 percent for the years 1991 to 2023.
Federal government spending on general public administration also includes interest expenses, which will likely have increased significantly recently due to the end of the low interest rate phase from mid-2022.
According to federal statisticians, defense represents the fourth largest expenditure block. It accounted for 7.1 percent of all federal expenditure in 2023. Despite a slight increase compared to the previous year, in 2022, with a share of 6.8 percent at that time, the share of defense spending remained below the pre-corona level. In 2019, it was nine percent. It was also below the long-term average since reunification, which was 8.1 percent.
Defense spending has recently pushed health spending out of fourth place. Health spending rose sharply during the pandemic years – to a record 8.3% in 2022. In 2023, health spending fell significantly, both in absolute terms and proportionally. It accounted for 1.8% of total federal government spending.
Its share was roughly at the pre-Corona level in 2019, when it was 1.6 percent. The long-term average was also 1.6 percent. In 2023, federal health spending fell short of the education spending bloc.
The federal government spent 3.1% of its 2023 spending on education, which is largely the responsibility of the federal states. Before the pandemic, it accounted for 3.5% of spending in 2019; the long-term average for the years 1991 to 2023 was 2%.
In total, the federal government will spend around 626.7 billion euros in 2023, based on the national accounts at current prices. Measured in terms of Germany’s economic output, this corresponds to 15.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
Before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, federal spending reached its lowest level of GDP at 12.5 percent in 2016, 2018 and 2019. Due to, among other things, the extensive Corona aid, spending rose to 17 percent of GDP in 2021, but has since fallen again. © afp/aerzteblatt.de