In Germany, at least 3.3 million people worked in the shadow economy in 2024, which accounts for 5.4 percent of the population, as a study by the Institute of the German Economy (IW) published on Thursday shows.
According to the study, the shadow economy accounted for around 10 percent of the gross domestic product between 2014 and 2024. While 7.5 percent of men worked unofficially in the past 12 months, women with 3.5 percent did so less often. There are also significant differences in age: 11 percent of younger people (18 to 34 years old) worked unofficially, while in other age groups, it was only three to five percent.
The federal government published a draft bill in November to modernize and digitalize the fight against the shadow economy, aiming to strengthen the authorities in their battle against unofficial work.
For the study, 2,628 people aged 18 and over in Germany were surveyed online from April 26 to May 8, 2024.