From €132bn (2015) to €215.7bn (2024): the municipal investment backlog is growing faster than it is being cleared (KfW Municipal Panel 2024, IMK projection). The projection runs to €350–450bn in 2035.
What is striking is the diagnosis behind it: the debt brake has been loosened, half a trillion stands ready — but funds that no one builds into anything raise no bridge. Municipalities recently spent only about €30 of €48bn in planned investment. What is missing is the clean separation of investment from operations.