Germany updates: Welfare payments up by €4 billion last year

The German state paid out some €46.9 billion ($54.4 billion) in basic welfare benefits last year, a rise of €4 billion over 2023, the government has said.

Experts say the rise was partly caused a significant increase in standard rates in 2023 and 2024 due to inflation adjustments.

Just over half the payments went to German citizens. Non-German recipients included several hundred thousand Ukrainians who have fled Russia's full-scale invasion of their country.

Meanwhile, a retail association says shops are billions of losses per year due to shoplifting. This type of theft is on the rise and nearly all incidents remain unprosecuted, they added.

Below you can read a roundup of events, backgrounders and analysis of stories from and connected with Germany  on Sunday, August 3:

08/03/2025August 3, 2025

Retailers say most shoplifters act with impunity

Shoplifting is on the rise in GermanyImage: Carsten Milbret/imageBROKER/picture alliance

Retailers incurred losses of some €3 billion ($3.5 billion) through shoplifting in 2024, a fifth more than in 2022, according to the German Trade association (HDE), the umbrella body for the German retail sector.

Speaking to the t-online website, HDE managing director Stefan Genth noted a growing problem with highly professional criminal gangs.

"Groups of offenders drive [..] through inner cities, steal valuable products — perfume, shoes, electronics — and sell them on the gray market," Genth said.

He said there were also more aggressive individual offenders who attacked shop staff if they were detected.

Genth also said that almost all offenses went unreported.

"Retailers make a complaint to police, only for state prosecutors to drop the case for reasons of efficiency. As a consequence, many retailers are frustrated and don't report thefts to the police," he said, adding: "For that reason, the number of unreported cases is extremely high: 98% of shoplifting offenses are not registered."

Genth called for changes to laws, more investment in security and more powers for the judiciary.

He also said that his association had so far found no connection between the increasing number of self-service checkouts and the rising shoplifting rate.

08/03/2025August 3, 2025

Welfare payments rise by €4 billion in 2024

Germany paid out about €46.9 billion ($54.4 billion) to recipients of state welfare benefits in 2024, a rise of €4 billion compared with the previous year, the government as said.

The information was provided the Social Affairs Ministry in response to a parliamentary question from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. 

About €24.7 billion (52.6% of the total) went to German citizens and €22.2 billion (47.4%) went to non-German nationals, according to the data — roughly the same distribution as in 2023.

The latter group included several hundred thousand Ukrainians who have fled to Germany following Russia's full scale invasion that started in 2022. The Ukrainian nationals received altogether €6.3 billion.

The rise in welfare payments has been in part attributed to a large increase in standard rates due to inflation adjustments, as well as to a rise in accommodation and heating costs.

The anti-immigration AfD criticized the payments to non-German nationals, saying they were "spiraling out of control." 

"Foreigners should generally be denied access to citizen's income [Bürgergeld]," said AfD Bundestag member René Springer.

It's worth noting, however, that millions of non-German nationals work in the country, paying into the system via taxes and obligatory social program payments.

08/03/2025August 3, 2025

Welcome to our coverage

Guten Tag from DW's newsroom in the former West German capital of Bonn!

Many Germans are worried that their welfare system will not be able to survive for long in times of global instability. And while the country remains Europe's biggest economy, retailers are reporting a surge in shoplifting. 

Follow us for stories on how Germany is coping with the myriad of challenges faced by many countries today, as well as a general roundup of major talking points in Bonn, Berlin, and beyond.