Friedrich Merz’s desperate attempt to appear tough on migration took another blow this week, after it was revealed that close to half the taxpayer cash spent on the Bürgergeld (citizens’ allowance) continues to go to individuals without German citizenship.
Figures show that the Federal Employment Agency handed out almost €47 billion in benefits in 2025, and that 46.6% of this went to foreigners.
Die Bürgergeld-Zahlen für 2025 sind da…
• Erneut wurden fast 47 Milliarden Euro an Bürgergeld ausgezahlt (für Regelbedarf, Miete und Heizung). • Mit 46,6 Milliarden Euro wurde der Rekord aus 2024 mit 46,9 Milliarden Euro nur knapp verpasst. • Weiterhin fließt fast jeder… pic.twitter.com/uth7t9FxbB
Right-wing news site NIUS on Wednesday reported that “the massive influx [of migrants] from non-European countries”—especially since 2015—“is increasingly pushing Germany’s social welfare system to its limits.”
That is despite German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) insisting last month that “the migration of recent years has significantly stabilised the German social security system—even if some give the impression that the opposite is true.”
Payments cover basic income support, as well as housing and heating costs.
The data have, of course, prompted a frustrated response from the populist AfD. Michael Espendiller, who is the party’s budget policy spokesman in the Bundestag, stressed that “consistent savings and efficient budgeting must be implemented.”
Friedrich Merz and Lars Klingbeil would do well to finally address structural cost drivers such as … immigration into the social systems instead of continuing to burden the working middle of this country ever further.
Gesamthaushalt 2025 zeigt, Deutschland braucht dringend Reform der öffentlichen Finanzen!
Zu den heute vom Statistischen Bundesamt veröffentlichten Zahlen zum Öffentlichen #Gesamthaushalt 2025 erklärt der haushaltspolitische Sprecher der #AfD-Bundestagsfraktion, Michael… pic.twitter.com/U28SG6tsJT
— AfD-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag 🇩🇪 (@AfDimBundestag) April 7, 2026
Espendiller’s parliamentary colleague, Nicole Hess, also complained on Wednesday that health insurance expenditures under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefit Act have “tripled” since 2015, noting in particular that “without [the establishment’s] lightning-fast naturalisations, the figures would look even more dramatic.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
