Press release No. 496 of 25 November 2022
- 7.5 million employees earned less than 12.50 euros (gross) per hour
- Proportion of low-wage sector employees fell from 21% to 19%
- Highest percentage of low-wage jobs in accommodation and food services compared with other economic branches
- Gross hourly earnings of high-paid workers were 3.28 times higher in April 2022 than those of low-paid workers
WIESBADEN – Nearly one in five persons in dependent employment (19%) worked in the low-wage sector in Germany in April 2022. This means that roughly 7.5 million jobs were low-wage jobs earning less than a gross 12.50 euros per hour. The number of low-paid jobs decreased by 514,000 compared with April 2018 (8.0 million), according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The share of low-wage jobs as a proportion of all employment relationships thus fell from 21% to 19% in Germany as a whole. The pay gap between low-paid and high-paid workers, however, remained almost unchanged.
