During the state financial equalization process, around 18.3 billion euros were redistributed in Germany last year. The depositors were Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Hamburg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The other eleven federal states received money from the pot. This emerges from a template from the Federal Ministry of Finance, about which Handelsblatt reported and which is also available to the German Press Agency.
Accordingly, Bavaria once again paid in the most money – around 9.1 billion euros. This was followed again in 2023 by Baden-Württemberg (around 4.5 billion euros) and Hesse (around 3.4 billion euros). Hamburg gave away 934 million euros, Rhineland-Palatinate around 320 million euros. Berlin remained the largest recipient country with 3.8 billion euros, ahead of Saxony (3.4 billion).
Even though Bavaria remains in first place among donor countries: compared to the previous year, the state led by the CSU contributed less money. In 2022 there were still 9.8 billion euros from Bavaria. The sum from Baden-Württemberg remained roughly the same, the other three donor countries paid more into the state pot in 2023 than in 2022.
The state financial equalization redistributes money between financially strong and financially weak countries and is intended to ensure almost equal living conditions in Germany. Bavaria filed a lawsuit against the state financial equalization with the Federal Constitutional Court in 2023 because it had been paying in the most money for years. The other major donor states, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, did not want to join in the lawsuit.