Press release No. 419 of 28 November 2016
WIESBADEN - At the end of 2015, nearly 8.0 million people, that is, 9.7% of the population received minimum social security benefits in Germany. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that, as in the two preceding years, both the number and the proportion of recipients within the total population increased on a year earlier. In 2014, almost 7.4 million people, or 9.1% of Germany's population, received minimum social security benefits. The increase recorded in 2015 was mainly due to a strong rise in the number of recipients of standard benefits in accordance with the Act on Benefits for Asylum-Seekers (from 363,000 to roughly 975,000).