Status: 07/28/2022 10:18 a.m
Public debt rose to more than 2.3 trillion euros at the end of 2021 – the highest level ever measured in debt statistics. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the main reason is the corona pandemic.
At the end of last year, public sector debt to banks and private companies reached a high of more than 2.3 trillion euros. At the end of 2021, the federal, state, local and social security debts in the so-called non-public sector amounted to 2,321.1 billion euros, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
“Public debt at the end of 2021 rose by 6.8 percent or 148.3 billion euros compared to the end of 2020 to the highest level of debt ever measured in the debt statistics,” said the Wiesbaden statisticians. The reason is particularly at the federal level, but also in some countries, to deal with the corona pandemic.
Federal government: 10.3 percent more debt than at the end of 2020
According to this, the federal government was indebted at the end of 2021 with 1548.5 billion euros, which was 10.3 percent more than a year earlier. The debts of the countries rose by 0.4 percent to 638.5 billion euros.
The overall public budget includes the federal government, states, municipalities and associations of municipalities, as well as social insurance, including all extra budgets. Banks and private companies in Germany and abroad are included in the non-public sector.
Per capita debt of 27,922 euros
The final figures are still higher than the provisional values announced in March. The sum now corresponds to a per capita debt of 27,922 euros, the Federal Office said. In March, 27,906 euros were calculated.
Among the federal states, the highest per capita debt was in the city states, with Bremen at EUR 53,834, Hamburg at EUR 19,106 and Berlin at EUR 16,897. Among the non-city states, per capita debt was highest in Saarland at EUR 14,811, followed by Schleswig-Holstein at EUR 11,391.
The municipalities and associations of municipalities were in debt with 134.2 billion euros, according to the Federal Office this is an increase of 0.6 percent. At the end of 2021, social security owed 45 million euros, a million more than a year earlier.