Germany

Learn even more about Germany at oecd.org

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indicator	value	unit
Population	83.1	mil.
Visitors per year	30.4	mil.
Renewable energy	10.7	%

How’s Life?

Germany performs well in many dimensions of well-being relative to other countries in the Better Life Index. Germany outperforms the average in jobs, work-life balance, education, environmental quality, safety, civic engagement and life satisfaction. These assessments are based on available selected data.

Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Germany, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 38 971 a year, more than the OECD average of USD 30 490 a year.

In terms of employment, about 77% of people aged 15 to 64 in Germany have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 66%. Some 80% of men are in paid work, compared with 73% of women. In Germany, 4% of employees work very long hours in paid work, below the OECD average of 10%, with 6% of men working very long hours in paid work compared with 2% of women.

Good education and skills are important requisites for finding a job. In Germany, 86% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, higher than the OECD average of 79%. However, completion varies between men and women, as 87% of men have successfully completed upper secondary education compared with 86% of women. In terms of the quality of the education system, the average student scored 500 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This score is higher than the OECD average of 488. On average in Germany, girls outperformed boys by 7 points, above the average OECD gap of 5 points.

In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in Germany is around 81 years, the same as the OECD average. Life expectancy for women is 84 years, compared with 79 for men. The level of atmospheric PM2.5 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 12 micrograms per cubic meter, below the OECD average of 14 micrograms per cubic meter. In Germany, 91% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, higher than the OECD average of 84%.

Concerning the public sphere, there is a moderate sense of community and high levels of civic participation in Germany, where 90% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need, slightly less than the OECD average of 91%. Voter turnout, a measure of citizens' participation in the political process, was 76% during recent elections, higher than the OECD average of 69%. Social and economic status can affect voting rates; voter turnout for the top 20% of the population is an estimated 81% and for the bottom 20% it is an estimated 64%.

When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, Germans gave it a 7.3 grade on average, higher than the OECD average of 6.7.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

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OECD in Action

OECD Economic Surveys: Germany

OECD’s periodic surveys of the German economy. Each edition surveys the major challenges faced by the country, evaluates the short-term outlook, and makes specific policy recommendations. Special chapters take a more detailed look at specific challenges. Extensive statistical information is included in charts and graphs.

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Germany in Detail

Housing – Germany expand

Key Findings

Living in satisfactory housing conditions is one of the most important aspects of people's lives. Housing is essential to meet basic needs, such as shelter, but it is not just a question of four walls and a roof. Housing should offer a place to sleep and rest where people feel safe and have privacy and personal space; somewhere they can raise a family. All of these elements help make a house a home. And of course there is the question whether people can afford adequate housing.

Housing costs take up a large share of the household budget and represent the largest single expenditure for many individuals and families, by the time you add up elements such as rent, gas, electricity, water, furniture or repairs. In Germany, households on average spend 20% of their gross adjusted disposable income on keeping a roof over their heads, in line with the OECD average.

In addition to housing costs it is also important to examine living conditions, such as the average number of rooms shared per person and whether households have access to basic facilities. The number of rooms in a dwelling, divided by the number of persons living there, indicates whether residents are living in crowded conditions. Overcrowded housing may have a negative impact on physical and mental health, relations with others and children's development. In addition, dense living conditions are often a sign of inadequate water and sewage supply. In Germany, the average home contains 1.8 rooms per person, broadly in line with the OECD average of 1.7 rooms per person. In terms of basic facilities, nearly every dwelling (99.9%) in Germany contains private access to an indoor flushing toilet, compared with an OECD average of 97%.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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Income – Germany expand

Key Findings

While money may not buy happiness, it is an important means to achieving higher living standards and thus greater well-being. Higher economic wealth may also improve access to quality education, health care and housing.

Household net adjusted disposable income is the amount of money that a household earns each year after taxes and transfers. It represents the money available to a household for spending on goods or services. In Germany, the average household net adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 38 971 a year, higher than the OECD average of USD 30 490.

Household net wealth is the total value of a household’s financial and non-financial worth, such as money or shares held in bank accounts, the principal residence, other real estate properties, vehicles, valuables and other non-financial assets (e.g other consumer durables). In Germany, the average household net wealth is estimated at USD 304 317, lower than the OECD average of USD 323 960.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Protecting low-paid workers

Germany introduced a new statutory minimum wage that complements the tradition of determining pay scales through collective agreements in January 2015. As collective bargaining coverage has decreased over the years, the new wage floor better supports lower-income workers and decreases the risk of in-work poverty. Though the minimum wage excludes certain industries and workers under the age of 18, it is estimated that it will increase the total wage bill by 1.2%.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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Jobs – Germany expand

Key Findings

Having a job brings many important benefits, including: providing a source of income, improving social inclusion, fulfilling one's own aspirations, building self-esteem and developing skills and competencies. In Germany, about 77% of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has a paid job. This figure is higher than the OECD employment average of 66%.

Unemployed persons are defined as those who are not currently working but are willing to do so and actively searching for work. Long-term unemployment can have a large negative effect on feelings of well-being and self-worth and result in a loss of skills, further reducing employability. In Germany, the percentage of the labour force that has been unemployed for a year or longer is currently at 1.2%, slightly lower than the OECD average of 1.3%.

The wages and other monetary benefits that come with employment are an important aspect of job quality. Germans earn USD 53 754 per year on average, more than the OECD average of USD 49 165.

Another essential factor of employment quality is job security, in terms of expected loss of earnings when someone becomes unemployed. This includes how likely you are to lose your job, how long you are likely to remain unemployed and how much financial assistance you can expect from government. Workers facing a high risk of job loss are more vulnerable, especially in countries with smaller social safety nets. In Germany, workers face an expected 1.4% loss of earnings if they become unemployed, much lower than the OECD average of 5.1%.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Striving for equal representation

Female representation in top corporate jobs continues to lag behind in many OECD countries. To counter this trend, Germany implemented binding gender quotas in 2016 to foster gender parity in both the private and public sectors. First, in stock-listed and “co-determined” companies and large companies of 2 000 or more workers, women must account for 30% of seats in the supervisory boardrooms. Second, companies that are either stock-listed or co-determined have to publish their objectives for the share of women they will appoint to boards and top management ranks. Third, in state-owned companies, the gender quota target has been set to 50% for supervisory boards by 2018 (30% in certain cases where not all members of the board can be appointed).

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being OECD Job Quality Database

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Community – Germany expand

Key Findings

Humans are social creatures. The frequency of our contact with others and the quality of our personal relationships are thus crucial determinants of our well-being.

A strong social network, or community, can provide emotional support during both good and bad times as well as provide access to jobs, services and other material opportunities. In Germany, 90% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in a time of need, broadly in line with the OECD average of 91%.

A weak social network can result in limited economic opportunities, a lack of contact with others, and eventually, feelings of isolation. Socially isolated individuals face difficulties integrating into society as a contributing member and fulfilling personal aspirations.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Helping migrant families integrate into their community

Through childcare facilities the FAMILIENwerkSTADTproject helps improve the lives of families with a migrant background and integrate them into the community. The childcare facilities taking part in the project fulfil the following requirements: (1) 50% of the children they look after come from families with a migrant background, and some even up to 92% and; (2) those families and children were excluded from society and daily lives.

The project aims to improves the quality of education and care for children, advancement of educational equality for children with a migrant background and from socially disadvantaged families, stronger participation of families in the daily routine of the child care facilities, building-up of parental competencies, development of an integrated approach in working with families and development of a neighbourhood network to support families.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being OECD Insights: Human Capital

Indicators

Education – Germany expand

Key Findings

A well-educated and well-trained population is essential for a country's social and economic well-being. Education plays a key role in providing individuals with the knowledge, skills and competences needed to participate effectively in society and in the economy. Having a good education greatly improves the likelihood of finding a job and earning enough money. Germans can expect to go through about 18.2 years of education between the ages of 5 and 39, in line with the OECD average of 18 years.

Graduating from upper secondary education has become increasingly important in all countries, as the skills needed in the labour market are becoming more knowledge-based. Upper secondary graduation rates therefore provide a good indication of whether a country is preparing its students to meet the minimum requirements of the job market. In Germany, 86% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, higher than the OECD average of 79%.

But graduation rates, while important, speak little to the quality of education received. The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reviews the extent to which students have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. In 2018, PISA focused on examining students' reading ability, skills in maths and level in sciences, as research shows that these skills are more reliable predictors of economic and social well-being than the number of years spent in school.

The average student in Germany scored 500 in reading literacy, maths and sciences, above the OECD average of 488. The best-performing school systems manage to provide high-quality education to all students.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Best practices in vocational education and training (VET)

Germany’s successful vocational education model, based on a dual-apprenticeship system, has a long history and is widely respected. High school students can choose to either pursue academic upper secondary education at the end of compulsory education or follow a vocational path. The vocational stream includes a full-time vocational school or the dual-apprenticeship system.

In the dual system, students divide their time between workplace training and training at school. The school provides both general education and occupation-specific education, while employers supervise and offer workplace training. Both the government and employers are highly engaged and have a central role in designing education. The involvement of employers in the dual system also means that the programmes can be adapted to meet local needs. The government regulates job quality through standardised, binding national training curricula so that the short-term needs of employers do not hinder the educational and economic goals of the system. Apprenticeship contracts are also protected by collectively agreed wages. In 2014, 48% of German upper secondary students were enrolled in vocational programmes, of which 86% participated in the dual-apprenticeship system.

Boosting STEM skills

The Little Scientists’ House initiative prioritises early childhood skills development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The initiative was launched in 2016 to create enthusiasm among children for natural sciences and technology, promote co-construction in education processes, and promote basic competencies, such as learning, language, fine motor skills and social skills. Interest in STEM is encouraged through workshops and promotion days, as well as activities and educational programmes for day-care organisations through new local networks.

Following an initial pilot involving 50 preschools in Berlin, the initiative was expanded across Germany into more than 20 000 preschools, daycare centres and primary schools. The Little Scientists’ House initiative is expected to extend its activities to a total of 47 000 institutions.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

Indicators

Environment – Germany expand

Key Findings

The quality of our local living environment has a direct impact on our health and well-being. Outdoor air pollution is one important environmental issue that directly affects the quality of people's lives. Despite national and international interventions and decreases in major pollutant emissions, the health impacts of urban air pollution continue to worsen, with air pollution set to become the top environmental cause of premature mortality globally by 2050. Air pollution in urban centres, often caused by transport and the use of small-scale burning of wood or coal, is linked to a range of health problems, from minor eye irritation to upper respiratory symptoms in the short-term and chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer in the long-term. Children and the elderly may be particularly vulnerable.

PM2.5 – tiny particulate matter small enough to be inhaled into the deepest part of the lung – is monitored in OECD countries because it can harm human health and reduce life expectancy. In Germany, PM2.5 levels are 12 micrograms per cubic meter, less than the OECD average of 14 micrograms per cubic meter but higher than the annual guideline limit of 10 micrograms per cubic meter set by the World Health Organization.

Access to clean water is fundamental to human well-being. Despite significant progress in OECD countries in reducing water pollution, improvements in freshwater quality are not always easy to discern. In Germany, 91% of people say they are satisfied with water quality, higher than the OECD average of 84%.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Investing in clean transportation

Transport authorities manage provision, provide strategic planning and co-ordinate pricing across different modes of transport and different services providers. Frankfurt's Rhein-Main Transport Association influences policy and strategy beyond the borders of the municipality by bringing together three levels of government, 15 countries, 11 cities and the federal state of Hesse. To curb emissions caused by transportation the Association has invested in cleaner trains and introduced a fleet of hybrid buses.

Regulating air pollution

Small heating units using solid fuel such as woodburning stoves and wood-fired heating in households and small companies are a major source of emissions of harmful substances such as fine particles and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In 2010, the government extended rules on such products to cover smaller units (from 4 kW to 1 MW of thermal power). The ordinance establishes emission limits for new installations, in line with best available technologies. It requires all existing stoves and boilers to be retrofitted with particulate filters or decommissioned by 2024 if emission standards cannot be met. Emission limits were tightened in 2015 to reflect technology development. Compliance with the limit values is established either by a manufacturer's certificate or by on-the-spot measurements. Installations and fuel quality are regularly checked.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) estimated that the 2010 ordinance would reduce particulate emissions to 16 000 tonnes by 2025 from some 24 000 in 2005, equivalent to about a 50% decline compared with the scenario without the revision.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050

Indicators

Governance – Germany expand

Key Findings

Trust in government is essential for social cohesion and well-being. High voter turnout is a measure of citizens' participation in the political process. In the most recent elections for which data are available, voter turnout in Germany was 76% of those registered. This figure is higher than the OECD average of 69%.

Broader public engagement in the decision-making process is also important for holding the government to account and maintaining confidence in public institutions. The formal process for public engagement in developing laws and regulations is one way to measure the extent to which people can become involved in government decisions on key issues that affect their lives. In Germany, the level of stakeholder engagement in developing regulations is 1.8 (on a scale between 0 and 4); lower than the OECD average of 2.1.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being Regulatory Policy Outlook: Germany

Indicators

Health – Germany expand

Key Findings

Most OECD countries have enjoyed large gains in life expectancy over the past decades, thanks to improvements in living conditions, public health interventions and progress in medical care. Life expectancy at birth in Germany stands just above 81 years, in line with the OECD average. Higher life expectancy is generally associated with higher health care spending per person, although many other factors have an impact on life expectancy (such as living standards, lifestyle, education and environmental factors).

When asked, "How is your health in general?" nearly 66% of people in Germany reported to be in good health, less than the OECD average of 68%. Despite the subjective nature of this question, answers have been found to be a good predictor of people's future health care use. Gender, age and social status may affect answers to this question.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Disability benefits in Germany

In Germany, roughly 1.6 million people received disability benefits in 2011, compared to 1.9 million in 2000. To raise employment of individuals with disabilities, Germany introduced temporary disability benefits which are reassessed at periodic intervals. Benefits are determined by the person’s labour income during the five years prior to disability. Spending on activation measures for disabled people is higher than in most other OECD countries, reaching 0.3% of GDP. Workers with health problems are entitled to receive assistance from their employers, such as an adapted workplace, preferential selection and support for training, and part-time employment. As a result, the employment rate of disabled people in Germany is one of the highest among OECD countries. Disability benefit recipients continue to automatically acquire public pension claims as if they continued working until reaching the pensionable age.

In 2014, the government slightly increased old-age pension entitlements for disability benefit recipients and benchmark age for accumulating public pension claims for disability benefit receivers was raised from 60 to 62. Starting in 2018 the benchmark age will gradually be increased further to 65 years until 2024 which will further increase the old-age pension entitlements for new disability benefit recipients. Moreover, the period of earnings prior to disability was shortened for the calculation of the disability benefit if it is more favourable to the person applying for benefits.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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Life Satisfaction – Germany expand

Key Findings

Happiness or subjective well-being can be measured in terms of life satisfaction, the presence of positive experiences and feelings, and the absence of negative experiences and feelings. Such measures, while subjective, are a useful complement to objective data to compare the quality of life across countries.

Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings. When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, Germans on average gave it a 7.3 grade, higher than the OECD average of 6.7.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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Safety – Germany expand

Key Findings

Personal security is a core element for the well-being of individuals. Do you feel safe out walking, alone at night, for example? In Germany, about 76% of people say that they feel safe walking alone at night, more than the OECD average of 74%.

The homicide rate (the number of murders per 100 000 inhabitants) is a more reliable measure of a country's safety level because, unlike other crimes, murders are usually always reported to the police. According to the latest OECD data, Germany's homicide rate is 0.4, lower than the OECD average of 2.6.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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Work-Life Balance – Germany expand

Key Findings

Finding a suitable balance between work and life is a challenge for all workers, especially working parents. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. Governments can help to address the issue by encouraging supportive and flexible working practices, making it easier for parents to strike a better balance between work and home life.

An important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may impair personal health, jeopardise safety and increase stress. In Germany, about 4% of employees work very long hours in paid work, much less than the OECD average of 10%.

The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others, leisure activities, eating or sleeping. The amount and quality of leisure time is important for people's overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits. In Germany, full-time workers devote 65% of their day on average, or 15.6 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure (socialising with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.) – slightly more than the OECD average of 15 hours.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Promoting work-life balance

The 2015 New Reconciliation Memorandum follows up on previous charters developed within the context of the company network Erfolgsfaktor Familie (Family as a Success Factor) to help identify where progress has been made in achieving work-life balance, where challenges remain, and to draw up guidelines. It calls for equal sharing among men and women and appeals to employers to offer “flexitime” arrangements and reduced full-time working hours for both fathers and mothers, known as vollzeitnah, as well as more affordable,quality childcare. The 2015 parental leave reform has also made it easier for parents to combine part-time work and taking leave, and provides financial incentives to encourage both partners in a family to do 25-30 hours/week of paid work for at least four months.

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How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

Germany

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How’s Life?

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OECD in Action

OECD Economic Surveys: Germany

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Continuing Education and Training in Germany

Unlocking the Potential of Migrants in Germany

Public Procurement in Germany: Strategic Dimensions for Well-being and Growth

Germany in Detail

Housing – Germany expand

Key Findings

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Indicators

Income – Germany expand

Key Findings

Better Policies for Better Lives

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Jobs – Germany expand

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Better Policies for Better Lives

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Community – Germany expand

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Better Policies for Better Lives

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Education – Germany expand

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Environment – Germany expand

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Better Policies for Better Lives

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Governance – Germany expand

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Health – Germany expand

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Better Policies for Better Lives

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Life Satisfaction – Germany expand

Key Findings

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Safety – Germany expand

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Work-Life Balance – Germany expand

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Better Policies for Better Lives

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