Germany’s real wages have risen by at least as much as in any year since 2008, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. According to the statistics, they increased by 3.1 percent compared to the previous year.
The statisticians attribute the development to a less pronounced inflation trend compared to previous years, payments of inflation adjustment premiums and the agreed-upon wage increases and one-off payments in collective agreements. In 2024, nominal wages rose by 5.4 percent, while prices increased by 2.2 percent. In the immediate past, wage growth had been curbed by the price inflation.
The sectors with the greatest gains in nominal wage development were, accordingly, information and communication (+6.9 percent), the healthcare and social services sector (+6.5 percent) and the financial and insurance industry (+6.5 percent). In contrast, the development was relatively weak in the real estate and construction industry (+4.1 percent), freelance, scientific and technical activities (+4.1 percent), in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (+4.6 percent) and in the mining sector (+4.6 percent).
According to the statistics, women, with an average nominal wage growth of 5.8 percent, experienced stronger income increases than men (+5.3 percent), which contributed to a reduction in the so-called unadjusted gender pay gap from 18 percent to 16 percent.
As the Federal Office further reported, low-wage earners in particular benefited from the development, with the lowest quintile experiencing a nominal increase of 7.8 percent. The statisticians attribute this mainly to the stronger effect of the inflation adjustment premium in this income group, as this tax-free payment is usually paid out as a fixed amount, independent of the salary level.