In December 2023, approximately 5.7 million people in Germany were in need of care in the sense of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act. In December 2021, the number of people in need of care was still around 5 million, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Wednesday.
The strong increase of 730,000 people in need of care (+15%) also indicates that the effects of the expanded definition of care needs, which came into effect on January 1, 2017, are still being felt. Since then, people are more likely to be classified as in need of care than previously.
According to Destatis, the number of people in need of care is growing at a faster rate than expected due to the aging of the population. The demographic increase from 2021 to 2023 was estimated at around 100,000 people in need of care. The actual increase of 730,000 people in need of care is partly due to the expanded definition of care needs.
Almost nine out of ten people in need of care (86%, or 4.9 million) were being cared for at home in December 2023. Of these, 3.1 million people in need of care received only care allowance and were mainly cared for by family members. Another 1.1 million people in need of care lived in private households and were cared for by a combination of home care and ambulatory care and support services.
Additionally, 680,000 people in need of care were being cared for at home in care level 1. Of these, 40,000 received only relief services from state-offered services. The remaining 640,000 people in care level 1 did not use services from care homes or ambulatory care services. Whether these individuals received further help is not recorded in the care statistics.
A seventh of people in need of care (14%, or 800,000) were being fully cared for in care homes, it was reported. Compared to December 2021, the number of people in care homes increased slightly by 0.8% (+6,000). The number of people being cared for at home, on the other hand, increased by about a sixth (+17%, or 721,000). Of these, the number of people being cared for by ambulatory services increased by 5.1% (+54,000), and the number of people being cared for mainly by family members increased by about a fifth (+21%, or 549,000). The group of people in care level 1 without services from care homes or ambulatory care services, or with only state-offered relief services, also increased by about a fifth (+21%, or 118,000).
At the end of 2023, 78% of people in need of care were 65 years or older, with about a third (34%) being at least 85 years old, according to the statistics. The majority of people in need of care were female (61%), which is attributed to the fact that women have a higher life expectancy and the likelihood of being in need of care increases with age. While 11% of people in the 70-74 age group were in need of care, the care rate for those aged 90 and over was 87%.