Finances: Country financial equalization at record height – Bavaria Top payer

The country financial equalization rose to a record value of more than 11 billion euros in the first half of 2025. Specifically, the volume of financial strength compensation, as the system is now officially called, amounts to 11.178 billion euros. That is around 1.35 billion euros more than in the previous year, as can be seen from the statement of the Federal Ministry of Finance, which is available to the German Press Agency in Munich.

Bavaria is still on a wide distance. The Free State already transferred 6.672 billion euros in the first six months, followed by Baden-Württemberg with EUR 2.155 billion and Hesse with EUR 2.039 billion. The Hanseatic City of Hamburg appears in statistics as the fourth Geberland with 312 million euros.

Bavaria’s finance minister calls development “worrying”

“The financial strength compensation continues to get out of hand,” said Bavaria’s finance minister Albert Füracker (CSU) at the request of the dpa. The volume rose by almost 14 percent. “Even if, based on two quarters, no extrapolation is not possible for completely 2025: The current development is really highly worrying. It cannot go on in this way, we have to fundamentally change the structures in the financial strength compensation.”

After Bavaria had paid around 52 percent of the money last year, the proportion is now almost 60 percent. “That is around two billion euros more than in the same period last year,” said Füracker.

Berlin leads the list of the recipient countries

Berlin is the leader in the recipient countries with 2.028 billion euros, followed by Saxony with 1.919 billion euros and Thuringia with 1.161 billion euros. According to Saxony-Anhalt, 1.067 billion euros flowed, 935 million euros according to North Rhine-Westphalia and 827 million euros after Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Brandenburg received 795 million euros, Lower Saxony 701 million euros, followed by Bremen (549 million euros), Rhineland-Palatinate (540 million euros), Saarland (372 million euros) and Schleswig-Holstein (285 million euros).

With the state financial equalization, approximately equal living conditions are to be secured. Financially strong federal states pay, financially weak countries benefit. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, around 18.65 billion euros were redistributed in Germany in 2024. Bavaria laid the largest share with around 9.77 billion euros and is fighting for a reform of the compensation.

In 2023 Bavaria complained in Karlsruhe for financial equalization

In July 2023, Bayern filed his complaint against the financial equalization at the Federal Constitutional Court. When the court will make a decision is open. In the process, the twelve federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia came together.

In the coalition agreement between the Union and the SPD, an annual payment of the federal government of 400 million euros is provided to the donor countries. However, since Bavaria pays more than half of the financial equalization, the country would also receive the largest share by the total. But when the payments will come is open – so far there is no legislation.

Are there beer countries overwhelmed?

“Bavaria is solidarity and we are ready to contribute our part, but it must not be that the donor countries are overwhelmed. That would have fatal impact on the overall economic structure in Germany,” said Füracker. Solidarity and personal responsibility would have to come back into a new balance. “Unfortunately, after no agreement is reached on the discussion path among the countries, we will stick to our lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court.”