Interest payments in Germany
Germany: Interest payments was 1.4% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Interest payments in Germany, 1972–2022
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
Germany recorded 1.4% for interest payments in 2022.
The figure is up 53.8% on the previous year and down 72.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, interest payments in Germany peaked at 7.2% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2021.
That places Germany 136th out of 152 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 51 years of available data.
Interest payments in Germany, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 1.6% | — |
| 1973 | 1.6% | +2.1% |
| 1974 | 1.8% | +13.5% |
| 1975 | 1.9% | +4.3% |
| 1976 | 2.3% | +18.7% |
| 1977 | 2.6% | +14.9% |
| 1978 | 2.7% | +3.9% |
| 1979 | 3.0% | +9.1% |
| 1980 | 3.2% | +8.9% |
| 1981 | 3.8% | +19.5% |
| 1982 | 4.5% | +17.6% |
| 1983 | 5.3% | +17.0% |
| 1984 | 5.2% | -1.2% |
| 1985 | 5.3% | +2.2% |
| 1986 | 5.3% | -0.0% |
| 1987 | 5.3% | -1.8% |
| 1988 | 5.2% | -0.6% |
| 1989 | 5.1% | -3.2% |
| 1990 | 4.9% | -2.4% |
| 1991 | 5.2% | +4.8% |
| 1992 | 6.4% | +24.6% |
| 1993 | 6.4% | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 6.8% | +6.5% |
| 1995 | 6.1% | -9.7% |
| 1996 | 7.2% | +17.0% |
| 1997 | 7.2% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 7.2% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 6.8% | -5.6% |
| 2000 | 6.8% | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 6.5% | -5.4% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | -3.5% |
| 2003 | 5.8% | -7.0% |
| 2004 | 5.8% | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 5.6% | -3.0% |
| 2006 | 5.6% | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 5.9% | +3.8% |
| 2008 | 5.8% | -0.4% |
| 2009 | 5.2% | -10.3% |
| 2010 | 4.7% | -10.2% |
| 2011 | 5.4% | +14.7% |
| 2012 | 4.9% | -8.5% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | -26.4% |
| 2014 | 3.3% | -9.6% |
| 2015 | 2.8% | -13.3% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | -16.2% |
| 2017 | 2.0% | -15.6% |
| 2018 | 1.8% | -8.6% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | -16.1% |
| 2020 | 1.0% | -36.7% |
| 2021 | 0.9% | -9.3% |
| 2022 | 1.4% | +53.8% |
Germany compared with similar countries
- Germany's 1.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 3.3%, 42% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Germany's 1.4% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 3.3%, 41% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.2% | 1.6% | 3.0% | 8 |
| 1980s | 4.8% | 3.2% | 5.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.4% | 4.9% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.9% | 5.2% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.3% | 1.5% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Germany
More public sector data for Germany
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 1 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is interest payments in Germany?
- Interest payments in Germany was 1.4% in 2022, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest interest payments recorded in Germany?
- The highest recorded value was 7.2% in 1998.
- What is the lowest interest payments recorded in Germany?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2021.
- How does Germany rank for interest payments?
- Germany ranks 136th out of 152 countries with data for 2022.
- Is interest payments rising or falling in Germany?
- Over the last ten years it is down 72.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Germany data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.