Germany data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about Germany's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of Germany?
Germany had 83,298,787 inhabitants on 30 June 2026, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) population table by nationality and sex, updated on 22 September 2026. That was 0.23% fewer than a year earlier and 0.08% fewer than at the end of March. 12.37 million residents, about one in seven, were foreign nationals.
The figures are intercensal estimates rolled forward from the 2022 census, so they are not comparable with older series based on the 2011 census, which gave a higher total. They count people registered as resident, including foreigners. Destatis publishes the estimate quarterly; regional breakdowns are in its GENESIS-Online database.
What are the income tax rates in Germany?
From the 2026 tax year, German income tax is zero on taxable income up to €12,348 (the basic allowance), then rises progressively from 14% to 42% for income from €69,879, and 45% from €277,826, according to section 32a of the Income Tax Act, published by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The thresholds are for a single person; married couples taxed jointly use the same scale on half their combined income, which doubles the bands.
Between €12,349 and €69,878 there are no fixed bands: the law sets formulas so the marginal rate climbs steadily. The solidarity surcharge, church tax for church members and social insurance contributions are charged on top and are not in this schedule. The allowance and thresholds are usually raised each year by law.
What is the average salary in Germany?
Full-time employees in Germany earned an average of €4,784 gross a month, excluding bonuses, in April 2025, or €28.19 an hour, according to Destatis's earnings by economic activity table. Pay ranged from €3,185 in accommodation and food services to €6,279 in finance and insurance.
These figures come from the earnings survey for April, which covers paid hours and pay of full-time employees in agriculture, industry and services; part-time workers and bonuses would lower or raise the average. Averages are pulled up by high earners, so the median is lower. Destatis publishes the gender pay gap from the same data: 18% unadjusted, as shown on its earnings page.
What were the results of the last German federal election?
At the Bundestag election of 23 February 2025, the CDU won 22.6% of second votes, the AfD 20.8%, the SPD 16.4%, the Greens 11.6%, Die Linke 8.8% and the CSU 6.0%, according to the final results of the Federal Returning Officer. Turnout was 82.5%. Of the 630 seats, the CDU took 164, the AfD 152, the SPD 120, the Greens 85, Die Linke 64, the CSU 44 and the SSW 1.
Seats are shared in proportion to second votes among parties passing 5%, or winning three constituencies. The FDP (4.3%) and BSW (4.981%) fell short. The CDU and CSU sit together as one parliamentary group. Results by state and constituency, and open data files, are on the same site.
How much debt does Germany have?
Germany's public sector owed €2,753.5 billion to the non-public sector at the end of June 2026, 1.0% (€26.3 billion) more than three months earlier, according to provisional results on Destatis's public debt page (press release of 29 September 2026). The federal government accounted for €1,907 billion and the Länder for €646 billion.
This national measure covers the federal, state and local budgets and social insurance, including off-budget funds. The EU's Maastricht measure differs: Destatis's debt overview shows German general government gross debt at 63.5% of GDP in 2025, from the April 2026 EU notification. Destatis also reports a general government deficit of €71.3 billion, 3.1% of GDP, in the first half of 2026.
What is Germany's GDP growth rate?
German GDP grew 0.3% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first, after adjusting for prices, season and calendar, and was 1.0% higher than a year earlier, according to Destatis's detailed GDP release of 25 August 2026. Destatis said exports drove the growth, as in the first quarter. Its national accounts page puts GDP at €4,529.7 billion at current prices.
The detailed result was 0.1 points higher than the first estimate published on 30 July 2026, a reminder that early GDP figures are revised. Destatis corrected part of this release on 30 September 2026 for an error in net national income, not in GDP growth. Quarterly growth rates are seasonally adjusted and should not be added up to get annual growth.
What is the inflation rate in Germany?
Consumer prices in Germany were 3.3% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, up from 2.9% in August, according to Destatis's final consumer price index release of 13 October 2026. Destatis said this was the highest rate since December 2023. The EU harmonised index (HICP) also rose 3.3%.
Energy drove the rise: energy prices were 14.9% higher than a year earlier, with motor fuels and heating oil up most. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, stayed at 2.4%. Destatis publishes a flash estimate at the end of each month and confirms it about two weeks later, so check which one a figure comes from.
What is the unemployment rate in Germany?
2,994,000 people were registered as unemployed in Germany in September 2026, a rate of 6.4%, according to the Federal Employment Agency's monthly labour market report of 30 September 2026. That was 40,000 more than a year earlier; seasonally adjusted, unemployment rose by 12,000 on the month.
Germany has two measures. The agency's figure counts people registered as unemployed. The ILO measure from Destatis's labour force survey counts people without work who are looking and available: 1.86 million in August 2026, a rate of 4.3%, or 4.0% seasonally adjusted. The ILO rate is the one used for international comparison.
What is the minimum wage in Germany?
The statutory minimum wage in Germany has been €13.90 gross an hour since 1 January 2026, according to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. A general legal minimum wage has existed since 1 January 2015.
The rate is adjusted on the recommendation of the independent Minimum Wage Commission, made up of employer and union representatives, and set by government regulation. It applies to most employees aged 18 and over, with exceptions such as some interns and apprentices. Destatis's minimum wage page reports that 3.8% of jobs were paid the then minimum of €12.82 in April 2025, and 16% of jobs were in the low-wage sector.
What is the interest rate in Germany?
Germany's policy interest rates are set by the European Central Bank for the whole euro area. According to the ECB's key interest rates table, the deposit facility rate has been 2.50% since 16 September 2026, with the main refinancing rate at 2.65% and the marginal lending rate at 2.90%. The ECB raised rates in June and September 2026.
The Bundesbank, part of the Eurosystem, publishes German-specific rates: interest on bank loans and deposits, mortgage rates and Bund yields, in its interest rate statistics. It also publishes the legal base rate (Basiszinssatz), which is used for late-payment interest and is different from ECB rates.
How many migrants come to Germany each year?
Germany had net migration of about 235,000 people in 2025, according to Destatis's migration table for 2025. Its migration flows page rounds this to 1.5 million arrivals from abroad and 1.3 million departures, a net gain of 0.2 million.
Migration statistics count changes of residence recorded by local registration offices, for Germans and foreigners alike, so they are not the same as asylum applications or residence permits, which are published by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Destatis notes that net migration has been positive every year since 2010 and peaked in 2015-16 and 2022. Its 2026 population table shows 12.37 million foreign nationals living in Germany.
Are house prices rising in Germany?
Residential property prices in Germany rose 0.6% in the year to the second quarter of 2026 and 0.3% on the previous quarter, according to Destatis's provisional house price index published on 24 September 2026. Annual growth has slowed from 3.0% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 1.4% in the first quarter of 2026.
The index covers flats and houses bought by private households, existing and new, and adjusts for quality so it tracks like-for-like prices. Results are provisional and differ between cities and rural areas, which Destatis breaks down by settlement type. Long series from 2000 are in GENESIS-Online tables 61262-0001 and 61262-0002. The Bundesbank publishes its own indicators of residential property prices.
What is the life expectancy in Germany?
Life expectancy at birth in Germany is 78.8 years for boys and 83.4 years for girls, based on the 2023/25 life table, according to Destatis's deaths and life expectancy page. The same page records 1.01 million deaths in 2025.
Destatis calculates life expectancy from three years of deaths and population, to smooth out yearly swings, so the 2023/25 table describes those years, not 2026. It is a period measure: how long a newborn would live if death rates by age stayed as they were. Destatis also publishes provisional weekly death counts; it reported about 230,428 deaths in the third quarter of 2026, with spikes during heat waves.
What is the birth rate in Germany?
654,241 children were born in Germany in 2025, the lowest number since the Second World War, and the total fertility rate fell to 1.32 children per woman from 1.35 in 2024, according to Destatis's births release of 1 July 2026. Destatis says the rate last reached a similar low in 2006 (1.33); the all-time low was 1.24 in the mid-1990s.
The total fertility rate estimates how many children a woman would have at that year's birth rates by age. Destatis's births page gives the average age of mothers at their first child as 30.5 years. Fewer births also reflect the small generation born in the 1990s now reaching parenting age.
What is the poverty rate in Germany?
16.1% of people in Germany were at risk of poverty in the 2025 survey year, according to Destatis's at-risk-of-poverty table from the EU-SILC survey, up from 15.5% in 2024. The rate was 16.7% for women and 15.6% for men. Destatis's living conditions page gives 21.2% at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
A person counts as at risk of poverty if their equivalised household net income is below 60% of the national median. Income in the survey refers to the previous year, so the 2025 survey describes 2024 incomes. The wider 'poverty or social exclusion' measure, used as the EU target, also counts severe material deprivation and very low work intensity.
Source guides
- Destatis (Federal Statistical Office of Germany)
- Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank
- Federal Returning Officer and the Bundestag
- Gesetze im Internet and the Federal Law Gazette
- Handelsregister and Unternehmensregister (company registers)
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.