How much aid has Germany given to Ukraine?

• There is growing confusion about how much help the German government has given to Ukraine. To support the public debate, this report presents a comprehensive summary of the available information on German aid to Ukraine.

• Germany's total bilateral aid to Ukraine 2022–2026 ranges between EUR 31 and EUR 42 billion, depending on the source and measurement approach. The large range between these estimates stems from limited transparency in Germany’s reporting. The EUR 31 billion estimate is based on detailed, verifiable aid data that is reliable enough for international comparisons. The EUR 42 billion is instead based on aggregated government numbers, which are increasingly difficult to verify, because Germany has stopped reporting detailed aid numbers. About 80 per cent of German aid is military. Aid flows were lowest in 2024 and more than doubled in 2025/26.

• In addition to bilateral aid, Germany has supported Ukraine via the European Union, which has provided large-scale loans to Ukraine. Germany's share in these EU contributions adds up to another EUR 22.7 billion.

• The widely circulated figure of EUR 100 billion for German aid to Ukraine is misleading. It is wrongly reported as “bilateral aid”, since only about 40 per cent of this sum actually went to Ukraine. A closer look at the government figures shows that EUR 22 billion consists of future aid promises, which may or may not materialise. Moreover, EUR 35.9 billion was spent domestically in Germany, primarily on social welfare (“Bürgergeld”) for Ukrainian refugees.

• Compared with domestic spending priorities, Germany's bilateral aid to Ukraine is relatively modest. For example, Germany spent far more on “Mütterrente”, a pension add-on for mothers that keeps on expanding (ca. EUR 64 billion over 2022-26). The government also spent far more on domestic energy subsidies introduced after Russia decided to halt its gas deliveries in 2022. The 2022/23 “Doppelwumms” alone cost around EUR 51 billion, more than total bilateral Ukraine aid in five years (even when using the upper-bound aid figure of EUR 42 billion). In addition to that, the government launched several new transport and energy subsidies for households since 2022 (Tankrabatt, Deutschlandticket, Energiepreispauschalen etc.) at a total

cost of around EUR 37 billion, almost as much as bilateral aid to Ukraine since 2022.

• In international comparison, Germany has become the largest individual donor country in absolute terms in 2025 and 2026. The US has provided more than three times as much in total, but new US aid dropped by 99 per cent since 2024. Also the four Nordic countries together have given more than Germany, even though they total only a third of Germany's population. Relative to GDP, Germany's support ranks twelfth, close to the EU average.

• Better German aid reporting is both essential and easily possible. We provide concrete recommendations for the government based on international best practice.

Kiel Institute Experts