The national budgets of the federal government, the states, the municipalities and the social security funds have a volume of just under half of Germany's gross domestic product. After running deficits for decades, the state as a whole recently achieved surpluses before the Corona crisis. Thanks to low interest rates and rising revenues from taxes and social security contributions, Germany did not have to incur any new debt. However, the Corona crisis has again led to rising government spending, lower tax revenues and thus higher government debt overall, although the scope for government investment is limited by the debt brake. Germany currently has a debt level of more than two trillion euros.
About the topic
In addition to the openly disclosed debt, implicit debt lies dormant in the social system in the form of unfunded benefit commitments for pension, health and long-term care insurance. Germany currently spends around one-third of its economic output on social benefits, which already puts it in the lead among industrialized nations. Demographic change will place even greater demands on the social systems in the future.
The development of income and wealth inequality is the subject of much controversial debate in Germany. Although the inequality of disposable household incomes in Germany is higher today than it was at the beginning of the 1990s, it has not changed significantly since 2005. In an international comparison, it is low. For example, the top ten percent receive just over 30 percent of incomes. The wealthiest ten percent own around 60 percent of total assets. Consequently, wealth is distributed more unequally than disposable income. However, the upper class is not quite as aloof as these figures suggest: A large proportion of wealth is tied up in businesses that provide the livelihood for many millions of people in the form of jobs.
Due to technological progress, companies are increasingly looking for more highly qualified employees - with correspondingly higher salaries. At the same time, low-skilled workers face greater competition from workers from abroad. Because of these and other trends, income distribution in Germany - as in all industrialized countries - widened in the 1990s and up to the mid-2000s. Unlike most other countries, however, Germany was recently able to slow the income drift and fix it at the 2005 level. The good economic development and the unprecedented reduction in unemployment have improved the living situation of millions of people and stabilized income levels.
The state intervenes more strongly in income distribution in Germany than in many other countries, so inequality in Germany is low. As convoluted as the effects on redistribution are in detail, the result is clear: Those who earn more receive less state pay and pay higher taxes. Conversely, the less citizens earn, the more they receive from the state. The strong shoulders thus bear a heavier burden.
For the statutory pension scheme to be financed sustainably on its current pay-as-you-go basis, as many people as possible need to stay at work until the standard retirement age.
Matthias Diermeier / Madeleine F. Fischer / Judith Niehues in SOEP papers External Publication 20. March 2023
Punching up or Punching down?: How Stereotyping the Rich and the Poor Impacts Redistributive Preferences in Germany
Redistribution and the welfare state have been linked by academic discourse to narratives that portray specific societal groups as ‘deserving’ or ‘undeserving’. The present analysis contributes to this scholarship in a twofold manner.
Matthias Diermeier / Madeleine F. Fischer / Judith Niehues in SOEP papers IW
Beznoska, Martin / Christian von Haldenwang / Ruth Maria Schüler in IDOS (Hrsg.) Discussion Paper External Publication 15. March 2023
Tax expenditures in OECD countries: Findings from the Global Tax Expenditures Database
The Global Tax Expenditures Database (https://GTED.net/) collects national reports on tax expenditures for 101 countries for the period from 1990 to the present. Based on these data, the development of tax expenditures in the 38 OECD countries between 1999 and ...
Beznoska, Martin / Christian von Haldenwang / Ruth Maria Schüler in IDOS (Hrsg.) Discussion Paper IW
Tobias Hentze / Samina Sultan IW-Report No. 7 3. February 2023
New attempt to harmonise corporate taxation in the EU
In the course of 2023, the European Commission plans to present a proposal for a new corporate tax system under the title "Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT)".
The national budgets of the federal government, the states, the municipalities and the social security funds have a volume of just under half of Germany's gross domestic product. After running deficits for decades, the state as a whole recently achieved surpluses before the Corona crisis. Thanks to low interest rates and rising revenues from taxes and social security contributions, Germany did not have to incur any new debt. However, the Corona crisis has again led to rising government spending, lower tax revenues and thus higher government debt overall, although the scope for government investment is limited by the debt brake. Germany currently has a debt level of more than two trillion euros.
For the statutory pension scheme to be financed sustainably on its current pay-as-you-go basis, as many people as possible need to stay at work until the standard retirement age.
How Stereotyping the Rich and the Poor Impacts Redistributive Preferences in Germany
External Publication
20. March 2023
Punching up or Punching down?:
How Stereotyping the Rich and the Poor Impacts Redistributive Preferences in Germany
Matthias Diermeier / Madeleine F. Fischer / Judith Niehues in SOEP papers
Redistribution and the welfare state have been linked by academic discourse to narratives that portray specific societal groups as ‘deserving’ or ‘undeserving’. The present analysis contributes to this scholarship in a twofold manner.
Matthias Diermeier / Madeleine F. Fischer / Judith Niehues in SOEP papers
IW
Findings from the Global Tax Expenditures Database
External Publication
15. March 2023
Tax expenditures in OECD countries:
Findings from the Global Tax Expenditures Database
Beznoska, Martin / Christian von Haldenwang / Ruth Maria Schüler in IDOS (Hrsg.) Discussion Paper
The Global Tax Expenditures Database (https://GTED.net/) collects national reports on tax expenditures for 101 countries for the period from 1990 to the present. Based on these data, the development of tax expenditures in the 38 OECD countries between 1999 and today is examined.
Beznoska, Martin / Christian von Haldenwang / Ruth Maria Schüler in IDOS (Hrsg.) Discussion Paper
IW
New attempt to harmonise corporate taxation in the EU
Tobias Hentze / Samina Sultan
In the course of 2023, the European Commission plans to present a proposal for a new corporate tax system under the title "Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT)".
Factors Influencing the Decentralised Energy Transition in North Rhine-Westphalia
Martin Beznoska / Björn Kauder / Finn Arnd Wendland
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the most populous of Germany’s sixteen states and an industrial heartland, is a particular focus of the energy transition. Despite considerable progress in expanding the use of renewable energy, NRW still lags far behind other German states.
Martin Beznoska / Björn Kauder / Finn Arnd Wendland
IW
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German Economic Institute (IW) 
