Germany’s modern miracle: Churches are losing believers but gaining money

Germany’s modern miracle: Churches are losing believers but gaining money Rising salaries have outweighed the cost of hundreds of thousands leaving the church.. By SONJA RIJNEN Illustration by Arnau Busquets Guàrdia/POLITICO German commentators are calling it a modern-day “miracle.” Hundreds of thousands of worshipers are walking away from their churches each year. The money, however, keeps rolling in. Some 660,000 people formally quit the country’s Catholic and Protestant churches in 2025, freeing them from a levy automatically charged to registered members as a percentage of their income tax bill. Despite the exodus, the two institutions collected more than €12.5 billion through the church tax for the 2025 fiscal year, up from around €12.4 billion in 2024. The apparent miracle has a decidedly earthly explanation: Rising wages and Germany’s progressive tax system mean the shrinking pool of members is paying more. “At first glance, the development may seem contradictory,” a spokesperson for the Evangelical Church in Germany — the umbrella organization representing Germany’s regional Protestant churches — said. “The reason is that church tax is calculated based on individual income tax.” Members of Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches and some Jewish communities pay an additional religious tax equal to 8 or 9 percent of their income tax liability, even if they don’t attend services. In 2021, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available, more than 29 million people paid church tax in Germany, amounting to almost half of all income taxpayers in Europe’s largest economy. The German Finance Ministry’s 2025 payroll tax tables suggests that a single employee without children earning €50,000 gross a year pays approximately €600 in church tax annually on top of income tax, depending on the federal state. Someone earning €70,000 per year pays more than €1,000. People are registered as part of their religious community at birth or at local government offices. To stop paying the church tax, they must formally leave through a process known as Kirchenaustritt, or “church exit.” The procedure varies across Germany’s federal states but typically requires appearing in person at a registry office or local court to submit a declaration. Most states also charge an administrative fee. While those who deregister can still attend services as a visitor and access some church services, they are not allowed to have a church wedding, be a godparent or be guaranteed a church burial. In 2025, some 310,000 left the Catholic Church, while around 350,000 left one of Germany’s regional Protestant churches. Church exit The reasons people give for formally leaving their religious communities range from feeling less connected to the church to simply wanting to save money. “People are leaving the Church because they feel it no longer plays a role in their lives,” said Matthias Kopp, director of communications for the German Bishops’ Conference. “Added to this are the scandals of recent years, which have called the Church’s credibility into question,” he added. “There are also people — though this is by no means the primary reason — who leave the Church because of the church tax.” “These are processes of alienation to which we must respond,” said Kopp. For Jana Keil, a 33-year-old accountant from Berlin, the decision was both financial and moral. “I no longer wanted to support the system with church tax in light of the [child sex] abuse scandals,” she said. Lukas Heinich, a 23-year-old working student, said he formally left after completing his apprenticeship because he “didn’t feel like paying the tax or supporting the church.” That church tax revenues continue to rise despite the exodus is down to the types of taxpayers choosing to remain church members. Those who are still paying church tax in Germany are “probably the higher earners,” said Zareh Asatryan, prof