German poverty rate hits record 16.1% as regional divide widens, welfare report finds
Some 13.3 million people in Germany lived in poverty in 2025, pushing the rate to a new peak of 16.1%, according to the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband's latest report. Bremen recorded the highest rate at 27.5%, while Bavaria had the lowest at 12.6%.
A new peak in poverty
Germany's poverty rate climbed to 16.1% in 2025, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous year, according to the annual poverty report released by the Paritätischer Gesamtverband on 2 June 2026. The welfare association said 13.3 million people now live below the poverty threshold, which it defines as households with less than 60% of median equivalised income. The Federal Statistical Office had already published the underlying figures in February, using the EU-standard term "at risk of poverty" for the same threshold.
The Paritätischer described the figure as a "traurigen Rekord" (sad record), noting that no previous year had seen so many people affected by poverty. After declining rates from 2020 to 2023, the association said there had been a "negative Trendwende" (negative trend reversal).
13.3 million people in this country live in poverty, considering relative income poverty alone.
The regional divide
Regional disparities are stark and, according to the report, widened over the past year. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, with their strong industrial bases, recorded the lowest poverty rates at 12.6% and 13.2% respectively. At the other end, Bremen had the highest rate at 27.5%, followed by Saxony-Anhalt at 21.3%. The city-states of Hamburg (18.9%) and Berlin (18.7%) also ranked among the most affected.
Saxony saw its rate rise 0.6 points to 16.7%, meaning roughly one in six residents lives in poverty. The Saarland rate edged up 0.2 points to 15.5%, still just below the national average. Within Bavaria itself, a milder south-north gradient exists: Swabia recorded 11.4%, Upper Bavaria 11.8%, and Lower Bavaria 12.3%, while the three Franconian districts and the Upper Palatinate posted slightly higher figures.
- Bremen
- 27.5 %
- Saxony-Anhalt
- 21.3 %
- Hamburg
- 18.9 %
- Berlin
- 18.7 %
- Saxony
- 16.7 %
- Germany (overall)
- 16.1 %
- Saarland
- 15.5 %
- Baden-Württemberg
- 13.2 %
- Bavaria
- 12.6 %
Who is most affected
Certain demographic groups face disproportionately high poverty risk. Nearly one in five people aged 65 and over (19.5%) is affected, prompting the association to warn that "old age threatens to become a poverty trap." Single-person households have the highest rate at 30.3%, followed by single parents at 28.9% and people with low educational attainment at 29.1%.
The income thresholds used in the report place the poverty line at €1,446 net per month for a single person and €3,036 net for a household with two adults and two children under 14.
Calls for policy action
The Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland warned against cuts to social benefits, arguing that high living and housing costs demand more social security, not less. The association urged the Saarland state government to push for action at both state and federal level.
Anyone who cuts social benefits deepens poverty and endangers social cohesion. What is needed are poverty-proof social benefits, better earned incomes, affordable housing, and reliable social infrastructure.
Thomas Umsonst is deputy state managing director of the Paritätischer Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland. The report also highlighted specific western German regions with elevated rates, including Trier (21.4%), Weser-Ems (20.8%), and Arnsberg (19.6%), as well as eastern cities such as Chemnitz (18.2%) and Leipzig (17.4%).
