Dispute over population figures: some cities are worried about losing a lot of money

A lot of money is at stake for some cities

The municipalities are worried about losing a lot of money. "A lower population tends to lead to lower key allocations," says the city of Chemnitz. The exact amount depends on many factors - such as how the overall population in Saxony develops, but also the tax capacity. In Annaberg-Buchholz, there is talk of around 420 euros per capita. With the difference of 1,100 people, it would lose around 462,000 euros this year alone.

But how do the different figures come about? The state office refers to the 2022 census, a nationally standardized procedure in which the data is continuously checked for up-to-dateness and updated. "The census is a kind of inventory, so to speak, which checks how accurately the population registers reflect reality, as they can only reflect the population's registration behavior," it says. Differences could be due to people moving away - for example abroad - but not deregistering at their previous place of residence.