Study shows welfare spending tops neighborhoods – DW – 11/24/2025

A large majority of Berliners oppose a bid for the Summer Olympics, according to a survey conducted by daily Mirror Newspaper.

The survey found that 67% rejected the bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044, while 27% supported the city senate’s plan to move forward, with the rest undecided.

The results are likely to intensify debate over the state government’s Olympic initiative, especially as Games opposition group Nolympia plans to launch a campaign ahead of any referendum.

The potential vote will probably not take place before 2027, meaning it will come after the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has selected a national candidate city in the autumn of 2026. For Berlin, that timing creates an obvious risk: The city could be chosen first, only for voters to later reject the bid.

As well as Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Munich and Hamburg are also preparing bids to host future Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. The DOSB is expected to decide on the German candidate next autumn.

According to a study by the Cologne-based German Economic Institute (IW), Germany spends a larger share of its public budget on social security than any of its European neighbours.

The employer-aligned institute said 41% of Germany’s total spending goes to social programs, with about half devoted to old-age pensions. The Nordic countries, as well as Austria and Switzerland, spend about 40%, while the Benelux states – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – allocate about 38%. The EU average is 39%.

Germany also leads in health spending at 16%, which puts it roughly at par with the Nordic and Benelux countries.

With Parliament entering budget week and political tensions rising over pension reform, IW urged the government to limit further increases in state spending, especially in the social and health care sectors.

The analysis covered public spending from 2001 to 2023 and compared Germany with neighboring countries considered economically and culturally similar. Administrative costs were found to be comparatively high, increasing from 7.2% to 11% of total expenditure over two decades.

Education remained the weakest sector. Germany spent only 9.3% of its budget on education, leaving it far behind Austria and Switzerland. The study also highlighted declining staffing levels and public investment.

good day From DW’s newsroom in Bonn, where mulled wine is already being sold on stalls at the city’s Christmas market.

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Among other things, a study has been published showing that Germany devotes a larger share of its public budget to social security than its closest European neighbours.

The German Economic Institute, which conducted the research, warned that such costs threaten fiscal stability as lawmakers enter a tense budget week focused on pension reform.

Meanwhile, a poll in Berlin shows that a majority of the capital city’s residents oppose the city’s bid to host the Olympic Games.

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