In 2024 German public, church‑affiliated, and private universities and universities of applied sciences together spent €79.2 billion on teaching, research and hospital care.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this represents an increase of about five per cent compared with 2023.
Personnel costs were the largest budget item, amounting to €44.6 billion – roughly 56 % of total spending – and rose by six per cent from the previous year. Operating costs, the next biggest line item, also grew by six per cent to €27.8 billion. Investment outlays saw only a modest rise of 0.7 % to €6.8 billion.
Universities that host medical institutions and health‑science programmes recorded a slightly above‑average increase in expenditure, spending €39.2 billion on teaching, research and clinical services – a 7 % jump versus 2023.
Universities without medical faculties saw a 4 % rise to €28.5 billion.
Universities of applied sciences, including their administrative universities, lifted their spending by 2.8 % to €10.3 billion.
Revenue for all higher‑education institutions in 2024 reached €43.5 billion. The rise matched the five per cent growth in spending, keeping the share of self‑financed expenditure (those covering costs through earned income) at 55 % – the same level as in prior years.
Income from commercial activities and assets grew by six per cent to €29.4 billion, a figure largely driven by medical universities, which contributed about 95 % of that amount, including fees for clinical services.
External funding attracted by universities in 2024 summed €10.7 billion, a 0.5 % increase over 2023. External sources therefore grew at a slower pace than overall revenue. These third‑party funds are primarily earmarked for research and development at universities, including those with medical and health‑science units.
The largest donor remained the federal government, which supplied €3.4 billion (up 1.1 % from 2023), followed by the German Research Foundation with €3.2 billion (up 2.5 %) and the private sector with €1.7 billion (up 7.5 %).