At the end of last year, public sector debt to banks and private companies reached a high of more than 2.3 trillion euros.
At the end of 2021, the federal, state, local and social security debts in the so-called non-public sector amounted to 2,321.1 billion euros, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. The reason is particularly at the federal level, but also in some countries, to deal with the corona pandemic.
It is the highest level of debt ever measured in debt statistics. The final figures are still higher than the provisional figures announced in March. The sum now corresponds to a per capita debt of 27,922 euros, the Federal Office said. In March, 27,906 euros were calculated.
Within a year, public debt grew by 6.8 percent or 148.3 billion euros. The non-public sector includes banks and other domestic and foreign sectors, such as private companies in Germany and abroad.
At the end of 2021, the federal government had a debt of 1,548.5 billion euros, which was 10.3 percent more than a year earlier, as the Federal Office announced. The debts of the federal states rose by 0.4 percent to 638.5 billion euros. Saarland had the highest per capita debt among the non-city states (14,811 euros).
The municipalities and associations of municipalities were in debt with 134.2 billion euros, according to the Federal Office this is an increase of 0.6 percent. At the end of 2021, social security owed 45 million euros, a million more than a year earlier.