Germany: Goods and services expense (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Germany's goods and services expense (% of expense) fell 0.01 percentage points on 2021 (from 6.23% to 6.23%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.97 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.84 percentage points in 1991. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.13 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 88% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 6.47% for 2025. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2020 to 2022 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.16%, against 0.29% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2022, Germany had the 21st highest value of the 24 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Germany in the 2022 ranking

• Romania — 18th of 24: 8.98%
• Czechia — 19th of 24: 7.21%
• India — 20th of 24: 6.5%
• Ghana — 22nd of 24: 5.69%
• Sweden — 23rd of 24: 5.42%
• Belgium — 24th of 24: 2.85%

What this measures

Goods and services include all government payments in exchange for goods and services used for the production of market and nonmarket goods and services. Use of goods and services for own account capital formation is excluded. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 51 values

Goods and services expense (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Albania — 8.74% (2023)
• Armenia — 10.05% (2023)
• Austria — 6.63% (2023)
• Azerbaijan — 42.55% (2022)
• Belarus — 13.86% (2023)
• Belgium — 2.85% (2022)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 17.03% (2023)
• Bulgaria — 8.08% (2023)
• Croatia — 10.58% (2023)
• Cyprus — 9.19% (2023)

More public sector data for Germany

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 1.63 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 113.59 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 100.69 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.27% (2025)
• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 1.7 billion (2025)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 47.68 billion (2024)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 1.1% (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — -72.74 billion (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -1.68% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Germany's goods and services expense (% of expense)?

6.23% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1972?

It is down 19.71 percentage points from 25.94% in 1972. The highest value was 27.04% in 1974 and the lowest 2.74% in 1995.

How does Germany rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.GSRV.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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