General government debt in Germany increased by €62 billion in 2023 to €2.62 trillion. The basis for this calculation is government debt as defined in the Maastricht Treaty, which is harmonised across the European Union. The increase was similar to that of the previous year, but significantly weaker than in the years before. Central government debt grew by €75 billion, while state government debt continued to fall. The debt ratio, meaning the ratio of debt to nominal gross domestic product (GDP), fell for the second year in a row, to 63.7%. The significant decline of 2.4 percentage points is due to strong growth in ... (full story)