According to the latest study on purchasing power in Germany by the GfK market research association, next year the average salary increase and the inflation rate in Germany may probably set off each other so that purchasing power of Germans will stagnate. The study also shows that the average purchasing power differs significantly in different regions of Germany. At the top end of the purchasing power ranking there were little changes, according to the experts from Nuremberg. At the bottom end there are once again only East German regions and the West German city of Bremerhaven. On the other hand, some East German districts have benefited from a rise in the purchasing power of their citizens.
According to the GfK, Germans will have in total about 1.6 trillion Euros of net income at their disposal in the year 2009. This amount includes unemployment benefits, allowance for children or pensions. This corresponds to an average annual per capita purchase power of 18,946 Euros. In the year 2009 each citizen theoretically has about 210 Euros more at their disposal than this year which is an increase by 1.1 percent.
However, inflation will compensate for this increase in purchasing power. Purchasing power in real figures is therefore going to stagnate. According to the Nuremberg experts, a lot depends on the development of the labour market and the repercussions of the financial crisis.
The German district with the biggest purchasing power is the Hochtaunuskreis in Hesse with on average 27,590 Euros followed by the Bavarian district of Starnberg (27,413 Euros). Third is the region around Munich (26,232 Euros) followed by the Main-Taunus-Kreis.
Among the 25 districts with the smallest purchasing power are almost only districts in East Germany. The only exception is the Western district of Bremerhaven which ranks 410th among a total number of 429 districts. At the bottom end of this ranking is the district of Uecker-Randow. Inhabitants there have on average only 13,730 Euros at their disposal there which is 5216 Euros less than the German average and even 13,860 Euros less than the purchasing power of the richest German district.
At the regional level Bavaria is still leading. Here people have on average 20,571 Euros at their disposal, followed by Hesse (20,424 Euros) and Baden-Wurttemberg (20,282 Euros). At the bottom end stands Sachen-Anhalt where people have on average only 15,548 Euros at their disposal. 