Press release No. 057 of 23 February 2016
WIESBADEN – Net lending of general government amounted to roughly 19.4 billion euros in 2015 according to updated results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In absolute terms, this was the highest surplus achieved by general government since German reunification. When measured as a percentage of gross domestic product at current prices (3,025.9 billion euros), the Maastricht ratio of general government was +0.6%. These are data based on the definitions of the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010; they are used to monitor the budget situation in the EU Member States.
Net lending is calculated as the difference between revenue (1,350.0 billion euros) and expenditure (1,330.6 billion euros) of general government. The largest surplus in 2015 was achieved by central government (10.3 billion euros), after a surplus of 8.6 billion euros in the preceding year. It should however be noted that, in national accounts, only a small part (0.5 billion euros) of the total revenue from auctioning "mobile broadband" frequency blocks (5.1 billion euros) was recorded as revenue of central government in 2015. A considerable part will be recorded as revenue only in 2017 (3.8 billion euros) and later. State government, too, continued the budget consolidation, achieving a surplus of 0.4 billion euros in 2015, after a deficit of 0.6 billion euros a year earlier. Local government achieved net lending of 3.9 billion euros in 2015, after a deficit of roughly 2.4 billion euros in 2014. In absolute terms, they improved their financial situation to a greater extent than any other government level. The surplus of social security funds amounted to 4.8 billion euros and was also substantially higher than a year earlier (3.4 billion euros).
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| –4.2 | –1.0 | –0.1 | –0.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 |
| Government level | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR billion | ||||||
| Discrepancies in the totals may be due to rounding. | ||||||
| General government, total | –108.9 | –25.9 | –2.4 | –3.1 | +8.9 | +19.4 |
| of which: | ||||||
| Central government | –84.1 | –29.4 | –16.3 | –7.7 | +8.6 | +10.3 |
| State government | –20.6 | –11.5 | –7.3 | –3.1 | –0.6 | +0.4 |
| Local government | –8.1 | –0.3 | +2.9 | +2.3 | –2.4 | +3.9 |
| Social security funds | +3.8 | +15.3 | +18.3 | +5.3 | +3.4 | +4.8 |