Overview
- About 1.3 million households received Wohngeld at the end of 2025, an increase of roughly 90,000 households or 7.2 percent from the year before.
- State spending on Wohngeld rose to €4,992 million in 2025, a 6.4 percent rise that made outlays the largest since the series began in 2005.
- The Federal Statistical Office says the main driver was the statutory periodic indexation of entitlements to price and rent developments, which raised the average monthly claim to €296, up 3.1 percent.
- Recipients are concentrated among retirees, who are the main income earner in 51 percent of Wohngeld households with most of them single, and families with children under 25 make up 39 percent of recipients.
- Most beneficiaries are renters (82 percent) while homeowners make up a small share through the Lastenzuschuss, and there are wide state differences in incidence and average payments that reflect local rent levels.