Press release No. 001 of 3 January 2022
WIESBADEN – On an annual average there were roughly 44.9 million persons in employment in 2021 whose place of employment was in Germany. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the average number of persons in employment in 2021 was at the same level (+7,000; 0.0%) as in the previous year. In 2020, the coronavirus crisis had stopped the upward trend in employment, which had lasted for over 14 years, and had led to a decrease of 370,000 people (-0.8%).
It is assumed that the employment growth observed since 2006 would have ended soon even without the coronavirus crisis because the labour force potential is diminishing due to demographic change. The offsetting effect on this development caused by higher labour force participation of the domestic population and the immigration of foreign labour is decreasing.
Diverging trends in economic sectors
Overall, employment in the service sector in 2021 increased by a total 94,000 people (+0.3%) on 2020, reaching roughly 33.7 million people. In 2020, the number had decreased by 197,000 people, or 0.6%, on 2019. However, the development differed considerably between the individual economic sectors in 2021. The largest employment gains were recorded for public services, education, health (+249,000 people or +2.2%) and information and communication (+33,000 people or +2.4%), that is, in the sectors that had seen employment growth even in the crisis year of 2020. Business services, which include temporary employment agency activities, saw an increase of 33,000 people (+0.5%), following larger losses in 2020 (-120,000 people; -1.9%). Larger employment losses were again recorded in trade, transport, accommodation and food services (-176,000 people, or -1.8%), as was the case in the previous year (-218,000 people; -2.1%).
Outside the service sector, overall employment decreased. In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment was down by 96,000 (-1.2%) to roughly 8.1 million in 2021. Very positive contributions came again from construction, which recorded an increase of 31,000 persons in employment (+1.2%) to roughly 2.6 million. This shows that the good situation in the construction industry continues. 5.8% of all persons in employment worked in the construction industry in 2021.
In agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of persons in employment was down by 22,000 on 2020, which was a marked decrease of 3.8% to 558,000.
Employment subject to social insurance contributions increases, marginal employment and self-employment decrease
The total of employees increased by 115,000 (+0.3%) to roughly 41.0 million on an annual average in 2021. The main factor contributing to this increase was the positive development of employment subject to social insurance contributions, as is shown by the structural data available until the third quarter. However, larger employment losses were recorded in the number of persons employed in marginal jobs (people employed on a low-pay basis or on a short-term basis, people in job opportunities), as was the case in 2020. Among self-employed including family workers, the downward trend observed for 10 years continued in 2021. Their number fell by 108,000 to 3.9 million (-2.7%) on 2020.
Please note that short-time workers are counted as persons in employment in accordance with the employment accounts and labour force survey concepts.
Number of unemployed markedly down
Provisional estimates based on the labour force survey indicate that the number of unemployed people (according to the internationally comparable ILO definition) in Germany fell markedly by 159,000 (9.6%) to 1.5 million on an annual average in 2021, year on year. The active labour force available in the labour market, defined as the total of persons in employment and unemployed persons, decreased by 173,000 (-0.4%) to 46.3 million in the same period. The unemployment rate, which represents unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force, was down to 3.3% from 3.6% in the previous year.
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 | |||||
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 | 43,661 | 623 | 8,103 | 2,450 | 32,485 |
2017 | 44,251 | 615 | 8,175 | 2,479 | 32,982 |
2018 | 44,858 | 608 | 8,311 | 2,515 | 33,424 |
2019 | 45,268 | 599 | 8,366 | 2,547 | 33,756 |
2020 | 44,898 | 580 | 8,180 | 2,579 | 33,559 |
2021 | 44,905 | 558 | 8,084 | 2,610 | 33,653 |
Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
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 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
2018 | 1.4 | -1.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
2019 | 0.9 | -1.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
2020 | -0.8 | -3.2 | -2.2 | 1.3 | -0.6 |
2021 | 0.0 | -3.8 | -1.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
Percentage shares of the economic sectors in the total number of persons in employment | |||||
1991 | 100 | 3.0 | 28.2 | 7.4 | 61.3 |
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 | 74.6 |
2020 | 100 | 1.3 | 18.2 | 5.7 | 74.7 |
2021 | 100 | 1.2 | 18.0 | 5.8 | 74.9 |
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. 2021: provisional estimates based on the labour force survey. 3 Including unpaid family workers. | |||||
Persons in 1,000 | |||||
1991 | 41,104 | 2,172 | 38,932 | 35,369 | 3,563 |
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 | 45,333 | 1,774 | 43,559 | 39,218 | 4,341 |
2017 | 45,752 | 1,621 | 44,131 | 39,858 | 4,273 |
2018 | 46,187 | 1,468 | 44,719 | 40,496 | 4,223 |
2019 | 46,499 | 1,374 | 45,125 | 40,974 | 4,151 |
2020 | 46,467 | 1,664 | 44,803 | 40,765 | 4,038 |
2021 | 46,294 | 1,505 | 44,789 | 40,859 | 3,930 |
Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||
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 | -1.5 |
2017 | 0.9 | -8.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.6 |
2018 | 1.0 | -9.4 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.2 |
2019 | 0.7 | -6.4 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.7 |
2020 | -0.1 | 21.1 | -0.7 | -0.5 | -2.7 |
2021 | -0.4 | -9.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -2.7 |
More information:
Detailed data and long time series on persons in employment and unemployed people are available in the GENESIS-Online database in the tables on persons in employment persons in employment (81000-0015) and on the labour force including unemployed persons (81000-0011).
The current data and brief methodological descriptions regarding employment and unemployment calculations are available at Unemployment or Employment.