Who pays into the shared pot
Payments (−) and receipts (+) in the states' fiscal equalisation (Finanzkraftausgleich), euros per inhabitant, preliminary, 2025
In 2025 the western states as a group paid €218 per inhabitant into the fiscal equalisation between the states, while the eastern states received €851 per inhabitant. Only 4 states paid in, all in the West: Bavaria (€11.7bn), Baden-Württemberg (€4.0bn), Hesse (€4.0bn), Hamburg (€0.3bn). The five eastern states received €10.5bn of the €20bn redistributed. Their own tax revenue per head ranges from 53.9% (Thuringia) to 75.2% of the national average.
< −€493−€493−€105€282€669≥ €1,057
Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · 2025
Former West
−€218
excl. Berlin
Former East
€851
excl. Berlin
Berlin
€1,141
Germany
€0
By state
- Bremen€1,444
- Berlin€1,141
- Thüringen€1,062
- Sachsen-Anhalt€920
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern€919
- Sachsen€869
- Saarland€694
- Brandenburg€549
- Rheinland-Pfalz€183
- Niedersachsen€180
- Schleswig-Holstein€114
- Nordrhein-Westfalen€56
- Hamburg−€177
- Baden-Württemberg−€356
- Hessen−€638
- Bayern−€880
2025
Notes & caveats
- Preliminary: based on the provisional annual account for 2025 (vorläufige Jahresrechnung). The final settlement is fixed by regulation several years later.
- Only the transfers between the states (Zu- und Abschläge im Finanzkraftausgleich). Federal supplementary grants (Bundesergänzungszuweisungen, €8.8bn general grants in 2025, almost all to the East, Berlin, Bremen and Saarland) come on top and are not included.
- Per-inhabitant values are our calculation with population on 31.12.2025. Negative = the state pays in; positive = it receives.
- Since 2020 the old Länderfinanzausgleich runs through the VAT distribution; "payers" and "receivers" are the states with a deduction or a supplement.
Show the table
| State | Side | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Saarland | west | €694 |
| Berlin | berlin | €1,141 |
| Brandenburg | east | €549 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | east | €919 |
| Sachsen | east | €869 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | east | €920 |
| Thüringen | east | €1,062 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | west | €114 |
| Hamburg | west | −€177 |
| Niedersachsen | west | €180 |
| Bremen | west | €1,444 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | west | €56 |
| Hessen | west | −€638 |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | west | €183 |
| Baden-Württemberg | west | −€356 |
| Bayern | west | −€880 |