Press release No. 001 of 2 January 2019
WIESBADEN – On an annual average in 2018, there were roughly 44.8 million persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. According to first provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment in 2018 was higher by 562,000, or 1.3%, than a year earlier. In 2017, the relevant increase was 1.4%. On the whole, the employment increase observed for 13 years continued. Higher labour force participation of the domestic population and the immigration of foreign workers offset negative demographic effects, so that the number of persons in employment in 2018 was the highest since German reunification in 1991.
Service sector contributed most to absolute growth
In 2018, the service sector recorded the highest year-on-year increase in the number of persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. The relevant number increased by 384,000, or 1.2%, compared with a year earlier. The largest absolute employment gains were recorded for public services, education, health (+190,000 persons in employment or +1.7%), followed by trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+96,000 or +1.0%) and business services (+55,000 or +0.9%). In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment increased by an above-average 139,000 (+1.7%) in 2018. While the increase amounted to 37,000 in construction (+1.5%), it was 2,000 in agriculture, forestry and fishing (+0.3%).
More employees, fewer self-employed
The main reason for the positive development of the German labour market was the increased number of employees which, on an annual average, was up by 638,000 (+1.6%) to over 40 million for the first time in 2018. The number of employees subject to social insurance contributions increased again, whereas the total of marginally employed people (including persons in marginal or short-term employment) continued to decrease. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 76,000 (-1.8%) to 4.22 million in the same period. A smaller number of self-employed people was last recorded in 2003 (4.12 million).
Continued decline in the number of unemployed
As provisional estimates based on the labour force survey show, the number of unemployed people (according to the internationally comparable definition) in Germany declined by 130,000 (-8.0%) to just under 1.5 million on an annual average in 2018, year on year. The active labour force available in the labour market, defined as the total of persons in employment and unemployed persons, increased by 422,000 (+0.9%) to 46.2 million in the same period. The unemployment rate, which represents unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force, was down from 3.5% in the previous year to 3.2%.
| Year | Persons in employment, total | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | Industry, including energy | Construction | Service activities 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Annual averages. 2 Trade, hotel and restaurant services, transport, financial, renting and business activities, other service activities. | |||||
| Persons in 1,000 | |||||
| 2005 | 39,326 | 668 | 7,818 | 2,277 | 28,563 |
| 2006 | 39,635 | 653 | 7,734 | 2,273 | 28,975 |
| 2007 | 40,325 | 667 | 7,839 | 2,312 | 29,507 |
| 2008 | 40,856 | 670 | 8,022 | 2,300 | 29,864 |
| 2009 | 40,892 | 667 | 7,844 | 2,312 | 30,069 |
| 2010 | 41,020 | 661 | 7,705 | 2,331 | 30,323 |
| 2011 | 41,577 | 670 | 7,854 | 2,376 | 30,677 |
| 2012 | 42,061 | 667 | 7,994 | 2,412 | 30,988 |
| 2013 | 42,319 | 641 | 8,022 | 2,427 | 31,229 |
| 2014 | 42,671 | 649 | 8,069 | 2,436 | 31,517 |
| 2015 | 43,071 | 637 | 8,084 | 2,427 | 31,923 |
| 2016 | 43,642 | 619 | 8,111 | 2,451 | 32,461 |
| 2017 | 44,269 | 616 | 8,196 | 2,490 | 32,967 |
| 2018 | 44,831 | 618 | 8,335 | 2,527 | 33,351 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
| 2005 | 0.0 | -3.2 | -1.7 | -3.4 | 0.8 |
| 2006 | 0.8 | -2.2 | -1.1 | -0.2 | 1.4 |
| 2007 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| 2008 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2.3 | -0.5 | 1.2 |
| 2009 | 0.1 | -0.4 | -2.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| 2010 | 0.3 | -0.9 | -1.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 2011 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 1.2 | -0.4 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| 2013 | 0.6 | -3.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| 2014 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| 2015 | 0.9 | -1.8 | 0.2 | -0.4 | 1.3 |
| 2016 | 1.3 | -2.8 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 |
| 2017 | 1.4 | -0.5 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| 2018 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 |
| Percentage shares of the economic sectors in the total number of persons in employment | |||||
| 1991 | 100 | 3,0 | 28,3 | 7,4 | 61,3 |
| 2005 | 100 | 1,7 | 19,9 | 5,8 | 72,6 |
| 2010 | 100 | 1,6 | 18,8 | 5,7 | 73,9 |
| 2011 | 100 | 1,6 | 18,9 | 5,7 | 73,8 |
| 2012 | 100 | 1,6 | 19,0 | 5,7 | 73,7 |
| 2013 | 100 | 1,5 | 19,0 | 5,7 | 73,8 |
| 2014 | 100 | 1,5 | 18,9 | 5,7 | 73,9 |
| 2015 | 100 | 1,5 | 18,8 | 5,6 | 74,1 |
| 2016 | 100 | 1,4 | 18,6 | 5,6 | 74,4 |
| 2017 | 100 | 1,4 | 18,5 | 5,6 | 74,5 |
| 2018 | 100 | 1,4 | 18,6 | 5,6 | 74,4 |
| Year | Labour force | Unemployed persons 2 | Residents in employment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | employees | self-employed 3 | |||
| 1 Annual averages. 2 Results of the labour force survey (microcensus) according to the labour force concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO); persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. 3 Including unpaid family workers. | |||||
| Persons in 1,000 | |||||
| 1991 | 41,023 | 2,172 | 38,851 | 35,288 | 3,563 |
| 2004 | 43,345 | 4,127 | 39,218 | 34,960 | 4,258 |
| 2005 | 43,726 | 4,506 | 39,220 | 34,810 | 4,410 |
| 2006 | 43,663 | 4,104 | 39,559 | 35,076 | 4,483 |
| 2007 | 43,732 | 3,473 | 40,259 | 35,732 | 4,527 |
| 2008 | 43,823 | 3,018 | 40,805 | 36,302 | 4,503 |
| 2009 | 43,943 | 3,098 | 40,845 | 36,360 | 4,485 |
| 2010 | 43,804 | 2,821 | 40,983 | 36,496 | 4,487 |
| 2011 | 43,933 | 2,399 | 41,534 | 36,971 | 4,563 |
| 2012 | 44,230 | 2,224 | 42,006 | 37,446 | 4,560 |
| 2013 | 44,439 | 2,182 | 42,257 | 37,791 | 4,466 |
| 2014 | 44,697 | 2,090 | 42,607 | 38,194 | 4,413 |
| 2015 | 44,943 | 1,950 | 42,993 | 38,633 | 4,360 |
| 2016 | 45,324 | 1,774 | 43,550 | 39,216 | 4,334 |
| 2017 | 45,776 | 1,621 | 44,155 | 39,861 | 4,294 |
| 2018 | 46,198 | 1,491 | 44,707 | 40,489 | 4,218 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
| 2004 | 1.1 | 8.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| 2005 | 0.9 | 9.2 | 0.0 | -0.4 | 3.6 |
| 2006 | -0.1 | -8.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| 2007 | 0.2 | -15.4 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.0 |
| 2008 | 0.2 | -13.1 | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.5 |
| 2009 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| 2010 | -0.3 | -8.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| 2011 | 0.3 | -15.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| 2012 | 0.7 | -7.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | -0.1 |
| 2013 | 0.5 | -1.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | -2.1 |
| 2014 | 0.6 | -4.2 | 0.8 | 1.1 | -1.2 |
| 2015 | 0.6 | -6.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | -1.2 |
| 2016 | 0.8 | -9.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.6 |
| 2017 | 1.0 | -8.6 | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.9 |
| 2018 | 0.9 | -8.0 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.8 |
Detailed data and long time series on persons in employment and unemployed persons are available from the tables persons in employment (81000-0015) and on the labour force including unemployed persons (81000-0011) in the GENESIS-Online database.
The current data and brief methodological notes regarding the calculation of employment and unemployment figures are available on the Destatis website.
