Catholic bishops in Germany have revealed that revenue from parishioners is up despite membership numbers dwindling.
Commentators are labelling it a ‘church tax miracle’ due to the country’s unique means of collecting money from official members of The Church.
Figures released by the German bishops' conference as reported in pillarcatholic.com show dioceses received 6.75 billion euros (around £5.8 billion) in Church tax last year, up from 6.63 billion in 2024. That's despite more than 300,000 Catholics formally leaving the Church in the same year.
Germany operates a unique arrangement dating back generations. Unlike voluntary tithes in many parts of the world, anyone registered as Catholic or Protestant pays a surcharge of 8-9% on their income tax, which is collected automatically by the state and handed to the churches.
The money funds clergy salaries, schools, church buildings and overseas aid projects. The only way to stop paying is to formally deregister which bars you from certain entitlements such as receiving the sacraments or acting as a godparent.
Analysts say the rise in revenue while congregations fall conundrum comes down to who's leaving.
Many of those quitting The Church are young people or lower earners who paid little tax to begin with. That leaves behind an older, wealthier membership whose rising incomes thanks to real wage growth, over 3% in 2024, more than offset the losses.
Because Germany's tax system is progressive, a high earner can end up contributing three times more than someone on an average wage, even if they only earn twice as much.
Germany's Protestant churches - the EKD - saw the same pattern: 6.09 billion euros collected in 2025, up on the year before, despite losing around 586,000 members.
Church leaders admit the "miracle" won't last forever. Some dioceses are already tightening their belts. Rottenburg-Stuttgart has cut parish funding, and Fulda now only subsidises half its parishes as today's high-earning older Catholics eventually retire and fewer young Germans stay registered to replace them.