Employment in Germany in 2024

BERLIN (Reuters) – There were roughly 46.1 million people employed in Germany in 2024 on an annual average, the highest number since German reunification, the statistics office said on Thursday.

The average number of people in employment in 2024 rose by 72,000 compared to the previous year, according to the statistics office.

With the exception of the pandemic year of 2020, the number of employed has increased consistently since 2006. However, the pace of employment growth has significantly slowed since mid-2022, the office reported.

The increase of 72,000 employed individuals in 2024 follows larger rises of 622,000 in 2022 and 336,000 in 2023, based on data from the statistics office.

As in previous years, employment growth in 2024 was attributed to the immigration of foreign workers and the higher labor force participation of the domestic population. These two factors offset the dampening effects of demographic change, according to the statistics office.

The service sector was the only contributor to the increase in the total number of employed individuals in 2024, with 75.5% of all employed working in this sector. In contrast, the number of employed in the industry sector fell by 50,000, and the construction industry saw a decline of 28,000, as reported by the statistics office.