In 2023, Germany has sent more than half a billion euros in child benefit payments outside the country, according to government data provided to local media outlets.

As highlighted by the Bild newspaper on 31 October, the documents also revealed that Germany was on track to send another €500 million in child payments abroad in 2024, although the total value of such payments was down by 0.58 per cent in the first half of this year, writes the Brussels Signal news site.

According to Bild, a total of 525.7 million euros was sent to bank accounts outside Germany last year, with a further 258.5 million euros being sent abroad in similar fashion in the first six months of 2024. In comparison, in 2010, the same amount sent abroad this way was 35.8 million euros.

According to Germany’s Federal Employment Agency, which is responsible for the child allowance, the amount was menat to provide for 320,098 children,

although the government body said it was unsure how many of these minors held German citizenship.

It added that all those who pay taxes in Germany – even if they do not reside in the country – are entitled to the payments, if they have children. The same goes for some migrant workers in Germany who have children at home, in their countries of origin.

MP Antje Tillmann, the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) deputy, defended the payments,a rguing that they were „mostly in line with” German and European Union law.

However, she admitted that some of the payments involved some “annoying cases of abuse.”

In recent years, authorities have seen numerous cases of fraud to the detriment of Germany’s child support scheme and social benefits system, as highlighted by the Bild newspaper.

As is known, the number of immigrants in Germany has steadily increased in recent years, placing significant strain on the country’s economy and social support schemes.The funds currently allocated for housing and caring for migrants exert enormous pressure on the national budget. Another exacerbating factor is that many migrants falsely claim to be minors, which automatically entitles them to a higher level of care and support.

The current system creates opportunities for some migrants to unfairly exploit the system of state benefits.

One of the most serious cases involves a Nigerian man who claimed to have 24 children, for which he receives an annual 1.5 million euros from the state.