Press release No. 001 of 2 January 2020
WIESBADEN – On an annual average there were roughly 45.3 million persons in employment in 2019 whose place of employment was in Germany. According to first provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment was higher by 402,000, or 0.9%, in 2019 than a year earlier. In 2018, the relevant increase was 1.4%. This means that the employment increase observed for 14 years continued, though with less momentum. Higher labour force participation of the domestic population and the immigration of foreign workers more than offset the effects of demographic change, so that the number of persons in employment in 2019 was the highest since German reunification in 1991.
Above-average rise in service-sector employment
In 2019, 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 319,000, or 1.0%, compared with a year earlier. Here the largest employment gains were observed for public services, education, health (+204,000 people or +1.8%), followed by trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+62,000 or +0.6%) and information and communication (+49,000 or +3.7%). In contrast, employment was down in business services (-20,000 people or -0.3%) for the first time since 2009, which was due, among others, to a stronger decline in the business of hiring out of employees as temporary workers.
In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment was up by 59,000 (+0.7%) in 2019. Employment in the construction industry increased by 36,000 people (+1.4%). In agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of persons in employment decreased by 12,000 (-2.0%).
More employees, fewer self-employed
The positive development of the German labour market was largely due to the number of employees which, on an annual average, rose by 475,000 (+1.2%) in 2019. The number of employees subject to social insurance contributions increased again, whereas the total of marginally employed people (including those employed on a low-pay or short-term basis) continued to decrease. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 73,000 (-1.7%) to 4.15 million in the same period. A smaller number of self-employed people was last recorded in 2003 (4.13 million).
Continued decline in the number of unemployed
Provisional estimates based on the labour force survey indicate that the number of unemployed people (according to the internationally comparable definition) in Germany declined by 96,000 (-6.5%) to 1.37 million on an annual average in 2019, 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 299,000 (+0.6%) to 46.5 million over the same period. The unemployment rate, which represents unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force, was down from 3.2% in the previous year to 3.0% in 2019.
| 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 | |||||
| 2006 | 39,595 | 663 | 7,733 | 2,266 | 28,933 |
| 2007 | 40,272 | 663 | 7,841 | 2,305 | 29,463 |
| 2008 | 40,838 | 657 | 8,023 | 2,295 | 29,863 |
| 2009 | 40,903 | 652 | 7,849 | 2,306 | 30,096 |
| 2010 | 41,048 | 645 | 7,709 | 2,325 | 30,369 |
| 2011 | 41,544 | 650 | 7,858 | 2,368 | 30,668 |
| 2012 | 42,019 | 647 | 7,989 | 2,401 | 30,982 |
| 2013 | 42,350 | 641 | 8,019 | 2,415 | 31,275 |
| 2014 | 42,721 | 638 | 8,064 | 2,427 | 31,592 |
| 2015 | 43,122 | 633 | 8,082 | 2,426 | 31,981 |
| 2016 | 43,655 | 623 | 8,103 | 2,451 | 32,478 |
| 2017 | 44,248 | 615 | 8,175 | 2,479 | 32,979 |
| 2018 | 44,854 | 608 | 8,315 | 2,515 | 33,416 |
| 2019 | 45,256 | 596 | 8,374 | 2,551 | 33,735 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
| 2006 | 0.7 | -2.4 | -1.1 | -0.2 | 1.4 |
| 2007 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| 2008 | 1.4 | -0.9 | 2.3 | -0.4 | 1.4 |
| 2009 | 0.2 | -0.8 | -2.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| 2010 | 0.4 | -1.1 | -1.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| 2011 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.0 |
| 2012 | 1.1 | -0.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| 2013 | 0.8 | -0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| 2014 | 0.9 | -0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| 2015 | 0.9 | -0.8 | 0.2 | -0.0 | 1.2 |
| 2016 | 1.2 | -1.6 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | 1.4 | -1.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | 1.4 | -1.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| 2019 | 0.9 | -2.0 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Percentage shares of the economic sectors in the total number of persons in employment | |||||
| 1991 | 100 | 3.0 | 28.2 | 7.4 | 61.3 |
| 2010 | 100 | 1.6 | 18.8 | 5.7 | 74.0 |
| 2011 | 100 | 1.6 | 18.9 | 5.7 | 73.8 |
| 2012 | 100 | 1.5 | 19.0 | 5.7 | 73.7 |
| 2013 | 100 | 1.5 | 18.9 | 5.7 | 73.8 |
| 2014 | 100 | 1.5 | 18.9 | 5.7 | 73.9 |
| 2015 | 100 | 1.5 | 18.7 | 5.6 | 74.2 |
| 2016 | 100 | 1.4 | 18.6 | 5.6 | 74.4 |
| 2017 | 100 | 1.4 | 18.5 | 5.6 | 74.5 |
| 2018 | 100 | 1.4 | 18.5 | 5.6 | 74.5 |
| 2019 | 100 | 1.3 | 18.5 | 5.6 | 74.5 |
| 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 | 41,104 | 2,172 | 38,932 | 35,369 | 3,563 |
| 2004 | 43,370 | 4,127 | 39,243 | 34,982 | 4,261 |
| 2005 | 43,711 | 4,506 | 39,205 | 34,824 | 4,381 |
| 2006 | 43,623 | 4,104 | 39,519 | 35,083 | 4,436 |
| 2007 | 43,679 | 3,473 | 40,206 | 35,737 | 4,469 |
| 2008 | 43,814 | 3,018 | 40,796 | 36,317 | 4,479 |
| 2009 | 43,957 | 3,098 | 40,859 | 36,367 | 4,492 |
| 2010 | 43,831 | 2,821 | 41,010 | 36,495 | 4,515 |
| 2011 | 43,899 | 2,399 | 41,500 | 36,973 | 4,527 |
| 2012 | 44,186 | 2,224 | 41,962 | 37,440 | 4,522 |
| 2013 | 44,467 | 2,182 | 42,285 | 37,790 | 4,495 |
| 2014 | 44,741 | 2,090 | 42,651 | 38,192 | 4,459 |
| 2015 | 44,987 | 1,950 | 43,037 | 38,632 | 4,405 |
| 2016 | 45,328 | 1,774 | 43,554 | 39,212 | 4,342 |
| 2017 | 45,748 | 1,621 | 44,127 | 39,855 | 4,272 |
| 2018 | 46,177 | 1,468 | 44,709 | 40,486 | 4,223 |
| 2019 | 46,476 | 1,372 | 45,104 | 40,954 | 4,150 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
| 2004 | 1.0 | 8.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| 2005 | 0.8 | 9.2 | -0.1 | -0.5 | 2.8 |
| 2006 | -0.2 | -8.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.3 |
| 2007 | 0.1 | -15.4 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| 2008 | 0.3 | -13.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| 2009 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| 2010 | -0.3 | -8.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| 2011 | 0.2 | -15.0 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| 2012 | 0.7 | -7.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | -0.1 |
| 2013 | 0.6 | -1.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | -0.6 |
| 2014 | 0.6 | -4.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | -0.8 |
| 2015 | 0.5 | -6.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.2 |
| 2016 | 0.8 | -9.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.4 |
| 2017 | 0.9 | -8.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.6 |
| 2018 | 0.9 | -9.4 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.1 |
| 2019 | 0.6 | -6.5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.7 |
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.
