According to the Ifo Institute, the recent correction of the population figures is particularly pleasing for two financially weak federal states – but not for the federal capital.
According to the Ifo Institute, the revised population figures in the recently published 2022 population census are particularly encouraging for Bremen and Saarland: Measured by population size, the two small states will receive considerably more money in the future, as the Munich-based economists have calculated. Bremen will therefore receive 242 euros more per inhabitant in the future, and Saarland an additional 192 euros, because the population figures have been revised upwards.
The biggest loser is Berlin with 129 euros less per inhabitant, followed by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with minus 107 euros and Hamburg with minus 103. The 2022 census showed that around 1.4 million fewer people live in Germany than previously assumed. Since the number of inhabitants is a factor in calculating the state financial equalization, the states must expect greater losses the further their population numbers have been revised downwards.
According to the Ifo Institute, the biggest winner in absolute terms will be the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with additional revenue of around 584 million euros per year – but that would only be 32 euros more per inhabitant.
Source: Stern
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