2022 G7 summit was cheaper than planned, at €145m

The G7 summit held in southern Germany in the summer of 2022 has ended up costing around €43 million ($47 million) less than planned, reported Xinhua.

Instead of €188 million, the meeting of seven leading industrial nations at Elmau Castle at the foot of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, will ultimately cost "only" €145 million.

The figure was revealed by Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann on Wednesday at a meeting of the interior committee in the state parliament in Munich.

More than half for the cost - €80 million - will be paid by the federal government.

By way of comparison, the G7 summit in 2015, also held at Elmau Castle, cost €137 million.

By far the largest item this time was the cost of the comprehensive security measures and the police. According to Herrmann, a total of about 18,000 police officers were deployed during the summit, up to 13,000 of them at any one time.

Herrmann, however, defended the high number of officers. The police deployment plan had been fully successful, he said. Emerging security disturbances were effectively and immediately contained by the high police presence.

This is also reflected in the figures. In total, there were only 69 criminal offences and misdemeanours in the vicinity of the G7 summit and the numerous protests associated with it.

Herrmann questioned the ever-increasing size of the summit over the years. It is absolutely right and important that the G7 leaders meet regularly, he stressed, but added the same results could probably be achieved "with less political effort."