The wage inequality between men and women in the labour market stayed unchanged in 2025. The so‑called Market Gender Gap was 37 percent, the same as the year before, announced the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday.
The unadjusted gender pay gap for 2025 was 16 percent, meaning women earned 16 percent less per hour than men. About two‑thirds of this gap can be explained by the characteristics available for the analysis, leaving an unexplained portion that equals the adjusted gender pay gap of six percent.
A main driver of overall earnings differences remains the higher share of part‑time work among women. In 2025 men worked an average of roughly 34 hours per week across all employment relationships, whereas women worked about 28 hours per week. Women therefore devoted 18 percent less time to paid work than men, a figure that has held in recent years (the Gender Hours Gap).
Employment participation also differs by gender. Recent 2024 figures show that about 74 percent of women were employed, compared with roughly 81 percent of men. The gender employment gap fell by one percentage point to eight percent compared with the previous year. The market gender gap is derived from these three gender gaps.
At the state level the picture is split. In the eastern states the indicator for extended wage inequality in 2025 was 22 percent, significantly lower than the 39 percent seen in the west. Mecklenburg‑Western Pomerania had the lowest market gender gap at 17 percent, followed by Saxony‑Anhalt at 20 percent. In the western states values are higher: Baden‑Württemberg and Bavaria each recorded 41 percent, with Hesse, Lower Saxony and Saarland each at 40 percent.
The main reason for the east‑west disparity is the historically higher female employment participation in the eastern states. Women also work full time more often there, which leads to lower gender pay gaps, gender hours gaps and gender employment gaps compared with the west.