Germany’s Aid Cuts Reveal the Dangers of Isolationist Budgeting

By: Will Howley

Photo by Ingo Joseph/Pexels

In September 2025, the German government approved significant reductions to its international development and humanitarian aid budgets. The governing coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD cut the budget of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development by 8%, dropping below €10 billion for the first time since 2018. The German emergency aid budget was also slashed from approximately €2.23 billion to €1.04 billion, a staggering 53%.

Key German officials have criticized this decision. Development Minister Reem Abdali Radovan remarked that Germany is now “investing far less in international cooperation than is urgently needed.” Jamila Schäfer, lawmaker for the Green Party, commented on the lack of effort amongst German officials to reduce the gap left by President Donald Trump’s notable cuts to USAID earlier this year: “The fact that we are not even trying to somehow close this gap really hurts — especially the people directly affected," she said.

Aid cuts reflect a trend over the past year among wealthy nations to prioritize domestic interests over international responsibility. Paralleling Germany, Canada cut 25% of its international aid budgets and France cut 19% earlier in 2025. In the case of Germany, the government has emphasized the need for tighter budgeting after persistent inflation and a growing federal deficit. However, earlier this year, Germany announced plans to borrow 378.1 billion euros for military defense between 2025 and 2029, indicating a prioritization of domestic concerns. 

As one of the largest economies and the single largest humanitarian aid donor in the EU, the choices of German leadership carry immense weight. Several development aid leaders are concerned that cuts such as those in Germany and France will inspire other countries to do the same. “You have kind of a snowball effect, which is very negative,” said Jean Van Watter, head of the Belgian development agency Enabel. 

The reduction in humanitarian aid will have clear consequences in nations currently receiving aid, primarily in the Global South. In the Central African Republic, for example, EU funding is set to drop 73% in the 2025-2027 period compared to 2021-2024. Thorsten Klose-Zuber, Secretary General of the humanitarian organization Help, estimates that the cuts in emergency aid will cause over 4 million people to lose food aid and 1.5 million people to lose healthcare. 

Germany does appear to be making attempts to soften the impacts of its substantial budget cuts. At the World Health Summit on October 12th, Germany committed €1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Still, the German budget cuts deliver a considerable blow to aid organizations, which have continually struggled with addressing pressing global issues such as the humanitarian crises in Syria and South Sudan.

Ultimately, the decision of the German government to cut humanitarian aid will both weaken programs in the Global South and erode its reputation as a leader in international development. As humanitarian crises continue to worsen and more wealthy nations fail to accept international responsibility, Germany will serve as a pertinent case study for the impacts of isolationist budgeting. 

The views expressed in this publication are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Rice Journal of Public Policy, its staff, or its Editorial Board.