Official data reveals that almost two million immigrants receive Bürgergeld, many of whom have never worked in Germany, while benefits for German citizens are being reduced.
The German welfare system is once again at the centre of controversy following the publication of new figures that confirm what the patriotic opposition has been denouncing for years: Bürgergeld — basic subsistence income or unemployment benefit — has become a magnet for foreigners and asylum seekers, while the number of Germans receiving it is falling significantly.
According to data from the federal government, made public in response to a question from AfD MP Jan Feser, the number of foreign beneficiaries who have never worked in Germany rose from 621,000 in 2016 to 891,000 in 2024, an increase of 43% in just eight years.
In total, 1.91 million immigrants were receiving Bürgergeld in 2024, compared to 1.47 million in 2016. In contrast, among Germans, the figure fell from 2.85 million to 2.04 million over the same period. Only 257,000 German citizens on the list of beneficiaries had never had a job in the country, a figure that contrasts with the nearly one million foreigners in that situation. The sharpest increase is among nationals from the main countries of origin of asylum seekers, who went from 506,000 recipients to more than 625,000.
The government has tried to justify the figures by arguing that many immigrants counted as ‘never employed’ are in fact students, young people in integration courses or in training. It also pointed out that employment histories abroad are not recorded in official statistics.
The AfD has described the data as proof of the system’s failure. For MP Jan Feser, the Bürgergeld has lost its original function of reintegrating the unemployed into the labour market and has become a ‘social hammock for foreigners’. ‘More and more migrants are living off these benefits, while the cost to German taxpayers is skyrocketing,’ he said.
The sovereigntist party has reiterated its demand to limit foreigners’ access to these benefits, strengthen the supervision of employment offices and replace cash payments to asylum seekers with redeemable vouchers in order to curb fraud and the pull factor.
In August, another investigation had already revealed that, taking into account the different spellings, ‘Mohammed’ was the most common name among Bürgergeld recipients, a fact that the government tried to downplay, but which for the AfD illustrates the growing dependence of the migrant community on the German social system.
