Suche
Mein Konto
Lower Saxony in debt fever: municipalities record record debt!
Find out everything about the current debt in Goslar and other municipalities in Lower Saxony - data, trends and effects.
Lower Saxony in debt fever: municipalities record record debt!
The financial situation of Lower Saxony's municipalities is cause for concern. The current debt level of the municipal core budgets amounted to around 17.8 billion euros at the end of 2024. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 17.7% - a significant worsening of the situation after an already high increase of 7.1% in 2023, as regionalheute.de reported. What does this mean for citizens? The average per capita debt is 2,223 euros, which represents an increase of around 365 euros compared to 2023.
What was particularly noticeable was the increase in short-term cash or liquidity loans, which increased by a shocking 75.2% in 2024. This is a strong signal of the financial bottlenecks in many municipalities. Meanwhile, longer-term securities debt and investment loans grew by 13.7%. Developments show that the financial challenges are not only continuing, but are actually getting worse.
Excellent debt statistics
The situation is particularly outstanding in communities with extremely high levels of debt. Nine municipalities exceed the limit of 5,000 euros per capita debt. At the top of this list is the Heeseberg municipality with a per capita debt of 12,172 euros. But the city of Braunlage with 5,146 euros and the joint municipality of Grasleben with 5,279 euros don't leave you indifferent either. The city of Braunschweig, one of the key economic regions, has accumulated almost 877 million euros in debt, which is 3,469 euros per capita.
In contrast, there are also bright spots: Ten Lower Saxony communities and community associations were debt-free as of the reporting date, including the Baddeckenstedt community and the city of Burgwedel.
The Gifhorn district is doing quite well with a per capita debt of only 175 euros. Municipalities are now increasingly indebted to credit institutions and private companies. The debt of Lower Saxony's municipalities in the non-public sector rose by 7.1% in 2023. This seems to be a sign that many municipalities rely on external support to meet their financial obligations, such as statistic.niedersachsen.de reported.
The way into the future
The ongoing debt burden has put Lower Saxony's municipalities in a precarious situation. Many communities are reporting financial constraints, and federal and state support is urgently needed to provide economic relief. It is to be hoped that rankings like these not only sound the alarm, but also pave the way for necessary reforms and support measures to restore the financial health of municipalities. Also world.de highlights that some municipalities have even lost their debt-free status. This shows how fragile the financial situation of many communities is and how urgently there is a need for action.