Few budget lines are argued over with as little precision as development aid. The common story — that Germany keeps sending ever more money abroad while nothing arrives at home — does not survive scrutiny: the development budget is one of the most heavily cut departmental budgets the federal government has. What survives scrutiny is less comfortable and more exact. It is about composition, about recipients, and about how much of an already reduced budget is still available to spend at all. Here are the official figures.
What is actually paid
On preliminary figures, Germany provided official development assistance of around EUR 26 billion in 2025 — EUR 25.79 billion to be exact. That equals 0.56 percent of gross national income. Two years earlier the figure was still 0.82 percent, and 0.68 percent in 2024. The internationally agreed 0.7 percent target was therefore missed for the second year running.
The budget of the development ministry — Einzelplan 23, its departmental budget within the federal accounts — follows the same path:
| Budget year | Einzelplan 23 (appropriation) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | EUR 12.3 billion |
| 2023 | EUR 12.2 billion |
| 2024 | EUR 11.2 billion |
| 2025 | EUR 10.3 billion |
| 2026 | EUR 10.06 billion — 1.92% of the federal budget |
| 2027 (financial plan) | EUR 9.5 billion |
| 2028 / 2029 (financial plan) | EUR 9.3 billion each |
Anyone calling today for cuts to development aid is calling for the continuation of a cutting path that has been running for four years.
What is actually being counted here
The more interesting finding sits not in the total but in its composition. Of the amounts reported as German development assistance in 2025, only 39 percent — around EUR 10.10 billion — came from the budget of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The rest is spread elsewhere:
| Item | Share 2025 | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| BMZ budget | 39% | around EUR 10.10 billion |
| In-donor refugee costs | nearly 17% | around EUR 4.3 billion |
| EU contribution | 15% | around EUR 3.9 billion |
| Federal Foreign Office | 9% | — |
| University place costs of the federal states | 8.5% | EUR 2.2 billion |
| Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs | 2.3% | — |
The items listed cover roughly 91 percent; the remainder is spread across smaller departments and individual budget lines.
Two items in that table never leave Germany. In-donor refugee costs — accommodation and support inside the country — account for nearly 17 percent; they did at least fall by EUR 1.5 billion against 2024. The university place costs borne by the federal states (Länder) for students from developing countries add a further 8.5 percent. Together that is roughly a quarter of the reported development assistance: money spent domestically that nonetheless appears in the ODA statistics.
The EU contribution of 15 percent is a mandatory payment and not at national discretion. What can genuinely be shaped nationally is considerably less than the EUR 26 billion circulating in the debate.
Who receives the money
The ten largest recipients of German bilateral development assistance in 2024 were — in that order — India, Ukraine, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, China, Morocco, Peru and Brazil. Together they accounted for 24 percent of gross bilateral ODA. Every one of them is a middle-income country.
The least developed countries received 7.8 percent in the same year, or USD 2.3 billion. Measured against gross national income that is 0.09 percent, against a DAC target range of 0.15 to 0.20 percent. The stated aim of reaching the poorest first is therefore missed by a wide margin, while the largest sums go to emerging economies.
For India, Germany pledged at least EUR 10 billion in additional funds through to 2030 in May 2022, under the Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development.
What individual projects cost
It is worth testing the figures in circulation against the official records — several of them do not hold:
| Project | Documented German contribution | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle paths in Lima (Peru) | EUR 20 million grant | BMZ country page Peru |
| Water and sanitation in Timbuktu (Mali) | EUR 6.5 million | KfW project 38155 |
| Energy efficiency in public buildings, Montenegro | EUR 78 million (development loan) | KfW project 42455 |
| Climate Smart Cities (India) | EUR 4.76 million (2018–2024) | GIZ project profile |
| Climate-resilient urban development (Brazil) | EUR 7.3 million (2017–2025) | GIZ project profile |
On the Lima scheme, the EUR 20 million grant is joined by up to EUR 24 million from a 2022 pledge covering further cities, plus around EUR 155 million in repayable development loans for bus systems. The city of Lima contributes EUR 2.2 million of its own. Of 114 planned kilometres of cycle path, around 30 have been built.
What the Federal Court of Auditors notes
Two findings from the Federal Court of Auditors (Bundesrechnungshof) belong in any honest balance sheet.
On effectiveness. EUR 635 million is budgeted for the International Climate Initiative in 2026. From 2008 up to and including 2024, just under EUR 6.5 billion was appropriated and EUR 6.2 billion spent, spread across more than 1,000 projects in over 150 countries. In 2023 the Federal Court of Auditors found that the cost-effectiveness of the programme had not been demonstrated.
On room for manoeuvre. Of the spending appropriations in the development budget, 86 percent were already committed in advance in 2024 and 85 percent in 2025, and for 2026 the pre-commitment can run to up to 81 percent. Outstanding commitments have risen from EUR 22.7 billion at the end of 2010 to as much as EUR 38.8 billion by the end of 2026. The budget is being cut, in other words, while the commitments already entered into run on — with the result that the cut can barely bite where it is politically meant to.
What stands against that at home
The real question is not one of morality but of priorities. The figures below come from the same period and the same state of the public purse.
The perceived investment backlog of the municipalities reached a new high of EUR 231.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026 — EUR 15.5 billion more than a year earlier, a rise of 7.2 percent. Schools alone account for a shortfall of EUR 68.9 billion, roads for EUR 53.7 billion. Municipalities are planning investment of around EUR 50 billion for 2026; 2,900 of them were surveyed.
The number of people on basic income support in old age reached a new record of 764,065 at the end of 2025 — 25,225 more than a year earlier, a rise of 3.4 percent. Together with recipients on grounds of reduced earning capacity, the total is 1,283,860 people.
That allows the comparison to be drawn cleanly, without the refutable claim that there is no money for Germany’s own population. The accurate formulation is a different one: EUR 635 million is earmarked for 2026 for the International Climate Initiative, whose cost-effectiveness the Federal Court of Auditors was unable to confirm. The refurbishment backlog in German schools alone stands at EUR 68.9 billion. Both figures sit in the budget documents of the same state.
What sits on the other side
For the audience of this account — entrepreneurs running a location-independent business model — the question is not how the federal budget ought to be rearranged. No individual has any purchase on that. The question is what price you pay for a set of priorities you cannot influence.
That price can be quantified: a tax wedge of 49.3 percent for single average earners — rank 2 in the OECD against a mean of 35.1 percent — and a government spending ratio of 50.3 percent. Against that sits Georgia’s Small Business Status at 1 percent on turnover up to GEL 500,000 and 3 percent above it, and for corporations the Estonian model: 15 percent only on distribution, with retained profits untaxed.
This is not a recommendation to opt out of solidarity. It is the sober observation that the obligation to contribute remains while any say over how the money is used tends towards zero — and that this turns into a location question.
What follows from it
The development budget has been cut for four years and is programmed for further decline through to 2029. At the same time up to 81 percent of the funds are committed in advance, a quarter of the reported assistance never leaves the country, all ten largest recipients are middle-income countries, and the poorest countries receive 7.8 percent. That is not a spending problem but a steering problem — and it cannot be fixed from outside.
How cost and delivery relate to each other overall is set out in Government ratio 50.3%. The full location audit, with the investment backlog, insolvencies and bureaucracy costs, is in Germany is quietly falling apart. What 2027 and 2028 add in burden is set out in German Tax Reform 2026.
Austrian readers face a different legal position and a markedly different order of magnitude — set out in Austrian development aid.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ
How much development aid does Germany pay?
On preliminary figures, Germany provided official development assistance of around EUR 26 billion in 2025, or EUR 25.79 billion to be exact. That equals 0.56 percent of gross national income. In 2023 the figure was still 0.82 percent, and 0.68 percent in 2024. The 0.7 percent target was therefore missed for the second year running. In real terms, German ODA fell by 17.4 percent in 2025.
Is German development aid rising?
No, it has been falling markedly for several years. The development ministry budget dropped from EUR 12.3 billion in 2022 to EUR 10.06 billion in 2026 — 1.92 percent of the federal budget. The federal financial plan provides for EUR 9.5 billion in 2027 and EUR 9.3 billion each in 2028 and 2029. That makes the development budget one of the most heavily cut departmental budgets.
How much German development aid is spent inside Germany?
Roughly a quarter. Nearly 17 percent of the assistance reported for 2025 — about EUR 4.3 billion — was the cost of accommodating and supporting refugees in Germany itself. A further 8.5 percent, or EUR 2.2 billion, is the cost borne by the federal states for university places for students from developing countries. Both items appear in the ODA statistics but never leave Germany.
Which countries receive the most German development aid?
The ten largest recipients of bilateral assistance in 2024 were India, Ukraine, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, China, Morocco, Peru and Brazil — together 24 percent of gross bilateral ODA and, without exception, middle-income countries. The least developed countries received 7.8 percent, or USD 2.3 billion, which equals 0.09 percent of gross national income against a DAC target range of 0.15 to 0.20 percent.
Does Germany get development aid money back?
To a substantial extent, yes. With India, around 90 percent of the funds are extended as concessional loans which, according to the BMZ, are repaid on time and with interest. Einzelplan 23 budgeted receipts of EUR 730 million for 2025, of which EUR 712 million came from repayments and interest on bilateral financial cooperation. The BMZ reform plan of January 2026 provides for cooperation with emerging economies to run through repayable loans in principle in future.
Why does cutting the development budget achieve so little?
Because the budget is largely pre-committed. In 2024, 86 percent of spending appropriations were committed in advance, 85 percent in 2025, and for 2026 the pre-commitment can run to up to 81 percent. Outstanding commitments rose from EUR 22.7 billion at the end of 2010 to as much as EUR 38.8 billion by the end of 2026. Commitments already entered into run on while the annual budget falls — which is why the cut barely touches the items it is politically aimed at.
This article is general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice. The figures come from the OECD (Development Co-operation Profiles: Germany, ODA ratio, recipient structure, LDC share), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (ODA composition, Einzelplan 23, country pages for Peru and India, reform plan of January 2026), the Federal Court of Auditors (reports under § 88 (2) BHO — Bundeshaushaltsordnung, the Federal Budget Code — on departmental budgets 23 and 09, pre-commitment, outstanding commitments, International Climate Initiative), KfW Development Bank (project database), GIZ (project profiles), KfW Research (Municipal Panel 2026) and the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis; basic income support in old age, press release no. 104 of 26 March 2026). As of August 2026, subject to changes in the data.