OMM Redaksiyası
German municipalities ran a budget deficit of €20.1 billion ($22.7 billion) in the first half of 2026, matching the highest first-half shortfall since reunification in 1990, preliminary official figures showed Thursday.
The deficit remained at the record level recorded in the same period of 2025, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office, Destatis. The figures cover core and supplementary budgets of municipalities and municipal associations, but exclude Germany’s city states.
Spending and revenue growth slowed
Core municipal budgets accounted for €20 billion of the shortfall, while supplementary budgets posted a deficit of €100 million.
Expenditure rose 2.7% year on year to €204.1 billion, while revenue increased 3% to €184 billion. Both grew more slowly than in the first half of 2025, when spending climbed 6.9% and revenue rose 6%.
Personnel costs increased 5.2% to €54.7 billion, and social benefit spending was up 3.9% at €46.3 billion. Interest costs rose 13.1% to €2.4 billion.
Investment and tax receipts
Capital investment fell 4.5% to €21.7 billion. Spending on construction declined 2.4% to €15.5 billion.
Net municipal tax revenue edged up 0.9% to €57.3 billion. Net trade tax receipts fell 2% to €30.8 billion, with increases in other tax categories offsetting part of the decline.
Revenue from administrative and user fees rose 5.7% to €26.5 billion.
