Germans spent less money on disaster relief and environmental protection in 2023 than in the previous year. In total they donated five billion euros. Experts still speak of a good result.
Inflation also seems to be affecting Germans’ willingness to donate. Private households contributed almost five billion euros last year. That is around 700 million euros or twelve percent less than in 2022, it was said at the presentation of the German Donations Council’s “Balance of Help” 2023.
The income is now returning to the level of the time before Corona. The donation council said they roughly correspond to those of the good donation years 2017 and 2019. The previous highest value was in 2021 at around 5.76 billion euros, but the year is considered an exceptional year because of the flood in the Ahr Valley.
People over 60 donate the most
The Donation Council’s cause for concern is that the number of donors has been declining for years. Around 17 million people donated money to nonprofit organizations or churches at least once in 2023, it said. This is the lowest level since the survey began in 2005, when around one in three people donated.
On average, people gave 40.30 euros. The age group over 60 is still the most willing to donate. Their share of the donation volume is 61 percent. But the proportion of donors between 30 and 39 percent has also increased. Their share climbed from eight percent in the previous year to ten percent.
“Extremely solidarity”
Donation Council managing director Martin Wulff nevertheless spoke of impressive figures. The Germans had shown “extreme solidarity” last year despite inflation and crises, he said.
Market researcher Bianca Corcoran-Schliemann, who carried out the study, spoke of a “super result” when weighing up inflation and the Germans’ increasing willingness to save.
The share has fallen by around a third compared to the previous year and now amounts to 929 billion euros. Overall, according to the balance sheet, donations for humanitarian purposes were 75 percent and for non-humanitarian purposes such as culture or sport were 25 percent.
More money for cultural and monument preservation
While donations for refugees are down significantly compared to the previous year, at 459 million euros they are still above the 2019 level. Compared to the previous year, donations for church and religious purposes fell slightly last year from 779 to 763 million euros.
Germans also donated less in absolute terms to non-humanitarian causes. While they gave around 1.3 billion euros in 2022, last year it was around 1.2 billion euros. The share for cultural and monument preservation alone grew.