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National debt at the end of 2023 will be almost 2.5 trillion euros
The federal government’s debt increased at an above-average rate. photo
© Oliver Berg/dpa
Public debt also increased last year. However, one level shows a falling debt level.
The mountain of public debt rose by 77.3 billion euros or 3.3 percent last year. The federal government, states, municipalities and social insurance companies were in debt with a total of 2,445.5 billion euros at the end of 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office Wiesbaden announced.
However, there is a small special effect here. Since the second quarter of 2023, the debts of local public transport companies have been included in the calculation of public debt. Without public transport, the debt level would have grown by 2.9 percent and would be 9.0 billion euros lower.
The federal government’s debt increased at an above-average rate. It rose by 4.7 percent or 76 billion euros to almost 1,696 billion euros. The main reason was the increase in debt of the “Energy Economic Stabilization Fund” to cushion the consequences of the energy crisis resulting from the Russian war against Ukraine. The special fund set up in July 2022 to upgrade the Bundeswehr had a debt of 5.8 billion euros at the end of 2023; at the end of 2022 it had not yet taken on any debt.
In the case of the federal states, however, the debt level fell by 1.9 billion euros to 595.4 billion euros. Without the inclusion of public transport companies, the decline would have been even greater. In contrast, local government debt increased significantly. It rose by 9.1 percent to 153.6 billion euros compared to the end of 2022. The involvement of transport companies was clearly noticeable here. Without this effect, the municipalities’ debt would have only grown by 4.8 percent.