Number of people in employment reaches new high in 2024

Service sector drives employment growth. While the service sector will see growth in 2024, employment figures in manufacturing and construction will decline.

Wiesbaden, January 2, 2025 - The number of people in employment in Germany reached a new record high in 2024. According to initial estimates by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), an annual average of around 46.1 million people were employed in Germany - an increase of 72,000 people (+0.2%) compared to the previous year. Despite the increase, there was a clear slowdown in growth momentum compared to previous years.

Employment: growth impetus and challenges

Employment growth in 2024 was primarily driven by immigration and a higher labor force participation rate among the domestic population. These positive impulses were able to compensate for the effects of demographic change, such as the increased retirement of baby boomers.

Long-term comparison: Since 2006, with the exception of the coronavirus year 2020, the number of people in employment has risen every year. However, growth has lost significant momentum since mid-2022. While a strong increase of 622,000 people (+1.4 %) was still recorded in 2022, the increase was significantly lower in 2023 at 336,000 people (+0.7 %) and in 2024 at 72,000 people (+0.2 %).

Services sector drives employment growth

Germany owes the growth in employment exclusively to the service sector. The number of people employed in this sector rose by 153,000 (+0.4%) to 34.8 million in 2024. The "public service providers, education, health" sector grew particularly strongly with an increase of 184,000 people (+1.5 %).

Other service sectors developed differently:

• Financial and insurance services: +12,000 people (+1.1%)
• Information and communication: +6,000 people (+0.4%)
• Trade, transport, hospitality: almost unchanged (-1,000 persons; 0.0%)
• Business service providers: decline of 55,000 people (-0.9 %)

Overall, 75.5 % of all employees worked in the service sector in 2024 (2023: 75.3 %)

Employment losses in the manufacturing and construction sectors

Outside of the service sector, employment figures declined:

• Manufacturing (excluding construction): -50,000 people (-0.6%) to 8.1 million
• Construction: -28,000 people (-1.1%) to 2.6 million

This marked the end of the growth trend in the construction industry that had been ongoing since 2009, with the exception of 2015. In total, 23.3% of all employees worked in the manufacturing industry in 2024 (2023: 23.5%).

Agriculture, forestry and fishing also recorded losses (-3,000 people; -0.5% to 569,000 people).

More employees, fewer self-employed

The number of employees grew by 146,000 (+0.3%) to 42.3 million in 2024. The increase is primarily due to employment subject to social insurance contributions. In contrast, the downward trend among self-employed persons, which has been ongoing since 2012, continued. Their number fell by 74,000 people (-1.9%) to 3.8 million.

Significant increase in the number of unemployed

According to the internationally comparable ILO definition, the number of unemployed people rose significantly by 179,000 (+13.4%) to 1.5 million in 2024. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 3.2% (2023: 2.8%). The labor force (sum of employed and unemployed) increased by 260,000 people (+0.6 %) to 47.4 million.

Record figure with mixed signals

The labor market in Germany is stable in 2024, but with significant fluctuations between sectors. While the service sector continues to act as a growth driver, declines are emerging in the manufacturing and construction sectors. The rise in unemployment shows that challenges remain despite the growth in employment. The self-employed and start-up sector in particular appears to be less attractive in the current political situation.