The research centre is a foundation under civil law financed by public funds. In 2020, DESY had an annual budget of about 232 million euros (according to the German federal budget plan, excluding expenditure for investments and special financing expenses). In addition, it had a third-party funding income of about 18 million euros. 90% of the annual budget is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (German : Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and 10% respectively by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the German federal state of Brandenburg.