Berlin spent 883 million euros on refugee housing in 2024

Berliner Zeitung reports that Berlin spent 883 million euros on housing refugees in 2024. That works out at about 2.4 million euros for every day of the year, or just under 74 million euros a month.

According to the newspaper, the number is not an estimate. It comes from an answer given by Berlin's social administration to a parliamentary question in December 2025.

The article's headline says that housing refugees in the city is becoming more and more expensive, and its subheading asks where the money goes. Only the opening section of the piece was available, so the reasons it gives for the costs are not covered here.

A photo caption points to one example of the expense. It shows the site of the former refugee shelter in Tegel, described as once the largest in Germany, now behind barbed wire. According to the caption, one bed in a lightweight hall there costs the state of Berlin 4,700 euros a month.

The full article is behind a paywall for subscribers. This summary is based only on the freely accessible opening of the report.