New German employment agency figures show that foreign nationals received 46% of basic welfare payments in the first half of 2026, while 63.4% of employable recipients had a migration background and approximately 1.4 million people had remained on benefits for at least five years.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Germany’s welfare system is facing renewed scrutiny after federal employment data revealed that approximately 1.4 million people have relied on basic income support for at least five consecutive years, while separate financial records show that foreign nationals received €10.6 billion in welfare payments during the first six months of 2026. The figures have intensified debate over long-term benefit dependency, immigration-related spending and proposed reforms to the country’s social assistance programs.
A Federal Employment Agency analysis provided in response to a parliamentary inquiry from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party found that 37.8% of long-term welfare recipients were foreign citizens at the end of 2025, compared with 62.2% who held German citizenship. The approximately 1.4 million long-term recipients represented roughly two-fifths of all employable people receiving basic income support.
Separate Federal Employment Agency figures examined by German publication Glut Magazine showed that 63.4% of employable welfare recipients had a migration background as of March 2026. That classification includes foreign nationals as well as German citizens with a migration background, making it substantially broader than the category of recipients who do not hold German passports.
The distinction is significant because nationality and migration background measure different characteristics. Someone who becomes a naturalized German citizen is recorded as German in statistics organized by citizenship, even if that person previously received benefits as a foreign national. Consequently, the percentage of welfare recipients with a migration background cannot accurately be described as the percentage who are foreigners.
Financial data from the first half of 2026 further illustrated the scale of Germany’s basic income support expenditures. Job centers distributed approximately €23.2 billion between January and June, including €12.6 billion to German citizens and €10.6 billion to recipients with foreign citizenship. Foreign nationals therefore accounted for approximately 46% of the payments covered by the analysis.
If expenditure continued at the same pace during the second half of the year, payments to foreign recipients would reach approximately €21.2 billion for 2026. Total payments across all recipients would approach €46.4 billion. Those figures are annualized projections based on first-half spending rather than finalized expenditure totals.
The spending data cover regular entitlements, additional needs allowances, and housing and heating assistance paid under Germany’s basic income support system. They exclude some supplementary benefits and administrative and employment-integration expenses, meaning the figures do not represent the complete cost of administering the country’s welfare programs.
Germany’s broader public expenditures involving foreign nationals also extend to education, housing, integration programs and immigration-related administration. However, estimates combining those categories require separate accounting, and not all such expenditures can be classified as direct welfare payments or costs attributable exclusively to immigration.
The newest parliamentary findings, reported October 12 by German broadcaster n-tv, have renewed concerns about how effectively the welfare system helps employable recipients move into the labor market.
The data also revealed pronounced regional differences in long-term benefit reliance. Berlin had the country’s highest proportion of recipients who had remained on support for at least five years, approximately 45%, followed by Bremen at 43%.
Both cities exceeded the nationwide proportion of roughly 40%, suggesting that persistent welfare dependency is more concentrated in certain urban areas. The figures do not establish which specific factors account for the differences, although local employment conditions, housing costs and the composition of recipient households can affect reliance on public assistance.
Nationwide, 199,229 long-term recipients were younger than 25, indicating that sustained benefit dependency is not limited to older adults. The figures raise questions about barriers to employment and the effectiveness of programs intended to help younger people enter the workforce.
The number of people receiving support for prolonged periods has become a central issue in Germany’s political debate over welfare eligibility, work requirements and the responsibilities of recipients considered capable of employment.
René Springer, the AfD parliamentary group’s spokesperson on labor-market policy, criticized the extent of long-term reliance on taxpayer-funded assistance and renewed his party’s proposal to require certain recipients to perform community service.
“It cannot be that so many people receive citizen’s income at the taxpayers’ expense, even though they could go to work,” Springer said.
The AfD proposal would require employable recipients who have remained on basic income support for more than six months to complete 15 hours of community work each week. Those refusing to participate could face restrictions on cash assistance, replacement of some payments with benefits in kind or, in the most severe circumstances, withdrawal of support.
The party argues that mandatory public service would strengthen incentives to enter employment and reinforce the principle that individuals capable of working should contribute in exchange for financial assistance.
Other parliamentary parties have opposed similar proposals, citing concerns about the fundamental obligations of Germany’s welfare state and the circumstances of people who depend on public benefits.
During parliamentary discussions, Christian Social Union social-policy lawmaker Peter Aumer emphasized that the system must continue providing assistance to people who genuinely need financial support.
The dispute reflects differing approaches to welfare policy, including how to balance employment incentives, public spending controls and protections for individuals who cannot immediately support themselves through work.
Germany has already introduced stricter participation requirements and benefit reductions under reforms to its basic income support system. The AfD maintains that those changes are insufficient and continues to advocate additional obligations for employable recipients.
The welfare program known as Bürgergeld, or citizen’s income, was introduced in January 2023 as a replacement for the earlier Hartz IV system. A new basic income support framework took effect in July 2026, incorporating changes intended to strengthen work participation and modify benefit rules.
The financial impact of that reform remains uncertain. First-half expenditures under the previous system were only modestly lower than comparable spending during the preceding two years, indicating that substantial savings had not materialized before the new rules took effect.
Payments during the first six months of 2024 totaled approximately €23.6 billion, compared with €23.5 billion during the same period in 2025 and €23.2 billion in 2026. The latest figure represents a decline of approximately €325 million from the previous year.
Annual welfare expenditures also changed relatively little between 2024 and 2025, falling from approximately €46.9 billion to €46.6 billion.
The figures are relevant to earlier government proposals that anticipated multibillion-euro reductions in benefit spending through stricter participation requirements, increased employment placement and lower recipient numbers.
During the 2025 election campaign, Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed potential savings amounting to several billion euros annually. However, estimates associated with the new welfare reform indicated substantially smaller near-term budgetary effects.
Germany’s Labor Ministry projected savings of approximately €86 million in 2026 and €69 million in 2027 from the reform, according to the October 5 financial analysis by Glut Magazine. Those estimates fall considerably below the multibillion-euro reductions previously discussed, with subsequent years potentially bringing additional costs rather than sustained savings.
The latest spending figures have also focused attention on how Germany classifies welfare recipients by nationality and how naturalization may affect the statistics over time.
German employment data showed that the number of foreign nationals receiving basic income support declined from approximately 2.52 million in June 2025 to 2.35 million in June 2026, a reduction of 6.9%. Over the same period, the number of German citizens receiving benefits decreased by 1.4%.
Payments to foreign recipients fell by 4.2% during the first half of 2026 compared with the previous year, while payments to German citizens increased by 1.2%.
The differing trends have raised questions about how much of the apparent reduction in foreign recipients reflects people entering employment, leaving Germany or acquiring German citizenship.
Naturalization can change how an individual is classified without necessarily changing that person’s benefit eligibility or payment amount. A recipient who obtains German citizenship moves from the foreign-national category into the German-citizen category, even if the individual continues receiving the same financial assistance.
Glut Magazine highlighted an unusual statistical movement in January 2026, when the number of German welfare recipients increased by approximately 12,000 while the number of Syrian recipients declined by roughly 12,500.
The publication reported:
“Part of this shift could be due to naturalizations. Anyone who receives a German passport while receiving citizen’s income no longer appears in the statistics as a foreigner, but as a German – along with their payments. Notably, in January 2026 the number of German recipients increased by around 12,000, while the number of Syrians decreased by 12,500 in the same month – more than in any other month. Syrians are the largest group among naturalized citizens. Since June 2025, their number in citizen’s income has decreased by 15.6 percent, more than any other large group.”
The figures do not establish that the individuals who disappeared from the Syrian category were the same people who entered the German category. Changes in employment, eligibility, household circumstances and migration can also affect monthly recipient totals.
The exact contribution of naturalization remains undetermined because the available statistics do not establish how many people acquired German citizenship while receiving benefits. Glut Magazine reported that it had requested further information from the Federal Employment Agency.
German naturalization rules generally require applicants to demonstrate that they can support themselves without relying on certain forms of public assistance. However, exemptions exist for qualifying employment histories, hardship cases and applications governed by earlier legislation.
Under provisions introduced through citizenship reforms, certain applicants who have worked full time for at least 20 of the preceding 24 months can qualify for naturalization despite receiving supplementary welfare assistance. This can apply to employed individuals whose earnings are insufficient to cover the needs of their households.
Some children born in Germany also obtain German citizenship automatically when a parent satisfies the applicable residence and immigration-status requirements. Such children may live in households receiving public assistance while being classified as German citizens from birth.
These classifications explain why figures based exclusively on foreign citizenship do not capture the entire population of welfare recipients with a migration background. They also demonstrate why changes in nationality-based statistics cannot independently establish whether the overall demand for public assistance has increased or decreased.
The financial analysis revealed considerable differences in expenditures among foreign-national groups.
Recipients from the eight principal countries of asylum origin accounted for approximately €3.4 billion in payments during the first half of 2026. Ukrainian nationals received approximately €2.9 billion, while people from Western Balkan countries accounted for approximately €501 million.
Syrian recipients represented the largest expenditure category among the principal asylum-origin countries, receiving approximately €1.75 billion during the six-month period. That amount represented a 14.5% decline compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
Payments to Afghan nationals totaled approximately €860 million, an increase of 3.2% from the previous year, while payments to Somali recipients reached approximately €106 million, an increase of 8.1%.
Ukrainian recipients numbered 633,807 in June 2026, including 469,534 classified as employable. The average monthly payment reported for Ukrainian recipients was approximately €757, compared with €759 for German recipients.
Employment among Ukrainians in Germany has increased, although the number remaining on assistance continues to represent a substantial financial commitment.
Federal employment figures showed that the employment rate among Ukrainian nationals rose from 32.5% in July 2025 to 39.9% in July 2026. Among nationals from the principal asylum-origin countries, employment increased from 46.1% to 52.4% during the same period.
Those improvements indicate that greater numbers of foreign nationals are participating in the labor market, even as the welfare system continues supporting many households.
Employment does not necessarily end benefit eligibility. Individuals working part time or earning wages insufficient to cover household needs may remain entitled to supplementary assistance for housing, heating or basic living expenses.
The German government’s employment initiative known as Job-Turbo was intended to accelerate labor-market integration, particularly among refugees from Ukraine and other countries. Its progress has been mixed, with rising employment rates accompanied by continuing difficulties moving recipients entirely off public assistance.
A survey of more than 1,100 employment-placement specialists conducted by Germany’s Institute for Employment Research found that 62% considered the initiative either ineffective or not useful. Approximately 80% identified complex personal or employment-related problems as barriers to rapidly placing recipients into jobs.
The results suggest that job placement efforts face obstacles extending beyond the availability of work, including individual qualifications, language proficiency, household responsibilities and other circumstances affecting employability.
Germany’s welfare expenditures have also accumulated substantially over time. Federal employment records examined in the financial analysis showed that approximately €207.2 billion had been paid to foreign-national recipients under Bürgergeld and its predecessor programs between January 2010 and June 2026.
Of that total, approximately €74.5 billion was distributed after the introduction of Bürgergeld in January 2023.
Those historical expenditures reflect payments over more than 16 years and should be distinguished from annual spending or the total cost of Germany’s broader immigration and integration policies.
According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, approximately 14.07 million foreign nationals were registered as living in the country at the end of 2025, almost unchanged from the previous year.
The composition of that population continued to shift, with changes involving European Union citizens, Ukrainian nationals, Syrians and other nationalities. Naturalization, migration flows and administrative changes all contributed to those movements.
The population figures provide context for the welfare debate but do not establish the proportion of foreign nationals receiving benefits, since the two datasets measure different populations and use different eligibility criteria.
The political implications extend beyond spending alone. Germany faces continuing questions about workforce participation, public finances and the appropriate structure of income assistance at a time when policymakers are attempting to strengthen employment incentives while maintaining protections for vulnerable households.
The AfD’s proposed community-service requirement would represent a further expansion of obligations imposed on certain benefit recipients. Supporters argue that additional work requirements could reduce prolonged dependency, while opponents question whether mandatory civic assignments would improve regular employment prospects or conflict with social protections.
The latest figures show that long-term reliance on public assistance remains substantial even after successive welfare reforms. They also indicate that foreign nationals account for a significant share of welfare spending, while the broader population with a migration background represents an even larger proportion of employable recipients.
Whether the revised basic income support framework produces lasting reductions in spending will depend on employment trends, benefit eligibility, economic conditions and the effectiveness of programs intended to help recipients become financially independent.
For 2026, the first-half figures put spending on foreign-national welfare recipients on a projected annual pace of €21.2 billion, alongside approximately €46.4 billion in total payments. The final annual figures will determine whether the decline recorded during the first six months continues under the new system.
The data underscore the scale of Germany’s welfare commitments and the challenges confronting lawmakers as they seek to reduce long-term dependency, increase workforce participation and determine how public assistance should be administered across the country’s changing population.
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