GIZ is positioning itself for the future

Berlin, 9 July 2026. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH will undergo fundamental restructuring. This was the announcement made by Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, Chair of the GIZ Management Board, at today’s annual press conference. The federal enterprise is streamlining its core functions in Germany and implementing a leaner organisational structure. The Chair of the Management Board stated that GIZ would make savings in structural costs of around EUR 60 million in the long term and that the new structure would come into effect from May next year. Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel: ‘Nostalgia is not a strategy. We are preparing for the future and thereby laying the foundation for a GIZ fit for the future.’ This will enable the company to address the requirements of commissioning parties and partners faster and more systematically in future in the face of changing political and economic conditions, he added.

Pooled expertise and greater flexibility

The ability to take direct action on the ground remains key. At a time when political priorities are shifting and many actors are withdrawing from partner countries, this is GIZ’s unique selling point. New location types are differentiated between country offices, regional offices and core offices, and will enhance GIZ’s ability to deliver in its almost 120 countries of assignment. Modernised structures and processes offer greater flexibility, particularly in volatile and fragile contexts, and reduce both costs and the burdens placed upon us. GIZ is streamlining operations at Head Office, merging departments and pooling expertise. The company also announced further staff cuts, which it said would be implemented responsibly. Between 2023 and the end of 2025, GIZ reduced the number of staff it employed, from 25,634 to 23,787.

Niels Annen, Chair of the GIZ Supervisory Board and State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) backed GIZ on its path of reform: ‘The world is in a period of profound upheaval. At BMZ, we have therefore carried out a major reform to realign German development policy. GIZ is also using this as a basis on which to undertake its own reform. Besides strengthening its expertise in line with the new policy priorities, the company is streamlining its service offering and emphasising greater cost effectiveness and competitiveness.’ International cooperation is more important than ever. Annen: ‘Our peace, security and prosperity depend not only on a united Europe but also, crucially, on our partnerships with the Global South. Development policy is an integral component of German security policy – alongside foreign and defence policy.’

This was also underlined by Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel. Development does not take place for others, but with them, he said: ‘Partnerships are our strategic assets.’ As political rivalry intensifies, Germany must forge and shape strategic networks.’ For Schäfer-Gumbel, international cooperation ‘Made with Germany’ is not just a motto, but a mindset: ‘International cooperation ‘Made with Germany’ means working together on the basis of democratic values to create reliable framework conditions. This is central to GIZ’s approach.’

2025 in figures

GIZ’s work produces results worldwide. Together with its partners, in 2025 the federal enterprise provided support to 2.7 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) and to 2.4 million residents of host communities. Two million people were able to increase their income, and 11 million people were either granted access to a modern energy supply for the first time or saw an improvement in this access.

Last year, GIZ’s business volume was almost EUR 4 billion (EUR 3.969 billion), which is consistent with the previous year (EUR 3.968 billion). GIZ’s commissioning parties are the German Government, the European Union (EU), governments of other countries worldwide, international institutions, foundations and companies. With commissions matching the previous year’s level of EUR 3.2 billion, BMZ was GIZ’s main commissioning party. This includes EUR 769 million in cofinancing arrangements – funds with which third parties such as the EU or the United Nations can expand existing projects and thus boost their results.

Revenue from cofinancing arrangements in the entire public-benefit business totalled around EUR 830 million in 2025, an increase of 11 per cent on 2024 (EUR 747 million). The EU, GIZ’s largest source of cofinancing, accounted for around two thirds of this (68 per cent; EUR 568 million). Half of GIZ’s revenue in the public-benefit business area (53 per cent) was generated in competition with public and public-benefit institutions. This includes funds from BMZ’s special initiatives and for development partnerships with the private sector. International Services (InS), GIZ’s taxable business area, recorded growth of seven per cent. Total operating performance rose by twelve per cent to EUR 295 million in 2025 (2024: EUR 264 million). 

Last year, 23,787 people from 152 different countries worked for GIZ. Two thirds are national staff (15,823) in GIZ’s countries of assignment, of which there are almost 120.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. It supports the German Government in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. It is also engaged in education activities around the globe. GIZ assists people and societies in shaping their future and improving their living conditions.