IMMIGRATION IN GERMANY
The German economy relies on immigrant workers in sectors like healthcare, logistics and construction
By The Immigrant Times (IMT)
The German economy would have contracted significantly without immigrant employees such as Hatice, who drives a public transport bus in North Rhine-Westphalia (Photo: Ralph Matzerath), or Mukesh, who works for a logistics company. Some German hospitals would fail their patients without foreign-trained doctors.
September 2026: More than a quarter of all salaried employees in Germany have an immigrant background*, according to the latest 2025 microcensus figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on 28 September 2026. In several key sectors of Europe’s largest economy, particularly those facing acute bottlenecks, workers with an immigrant background now account for more than half of the workforce.
The figures highlight the structural dependence of Germany’s industry, hospitality, logistics, and care sectors on foreign-born workers and their direct descendants. At the same time, the data reveal pronounced discrepancies: while immigrants dominate manual trades, catering, and transport, they remain markedly under-represented across Germany's public sector and state institutions.
Sectors where the majority of employees have an immigration background
According to information released by Destatis, 27 per cent of all employees in Germany had an immigrant background in 2025. The official statistical definition classifies individuals as having an immigrant background (Einwanderungsgeschichte) if they themselves migrated to Germany since 1950, or if both parents immigrated after that date.
The statistical office cross-referenced these employment figures with the official bottleneck analysis (Engpassanalyse) conducted by the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA), which identifies vocational fields facing acute or impending skilled-labour shortages.
The results show disproportionate concentrations in five major trades, where people with an immigrant background form the absolute majority:
Professional chefs and kitchen staff: 56%
Food production and processing: 55%
Floor laying and interior finishing: 54%
Scaffolding: 51%
Meat processing: 51%
The pattern extends across critical logistics and hospitality services. Among bus and tram drivers and catering staff, 47 per cent have an immigrant background, nearly double the economy-wide average.
Healthcare relies on foreign labour
Nowhere is reliance on foreign labour more sensitive than in healthcare. In geriatric and nursing care, exactly one in three dependent employees (33%) has an immigrant background. As Germany’s ageing population increases pressure on social security systems, recruitment from abroad has evolved from a supplemental policy into a systemic necessity.
Immigrants ease sectoral labour shortages
Across Germany’s labour market, the share of employees with an immigrant background varies sharply between manual trades and state institutions. Against a national economy-wide average of 27 per cent, several sectors facing severe staffing constraints rely on foreign-born workers for the majority of their workforce.
According to data from Destatis and the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), the highest proportions are found in trades designated as suffering from an acute bottleneck. Professional chefs and kitchen staff top the list, with 56 per cent holding an immigrant background, closely followed by food and confectionery manufacturing at 55 per cent and floor and tile layers at 54 per cent. Scaffolders and meat-processing workers also register absolute majorities, each at 51 per cent.
A similar reliance characterises transport, hospitality, and essential care, all acute shortage categories. Employees with an immigrant background account for 47 per cent of bus and tram drivers, 47 per cent of food and beverage service staff, and 33 per cent of elderly and healthcare nursing personnel.
Sectors where employees with an immigration background are underrepresented.
By contrast, public services show minimal immigrant participation despite comparable staff shortages. Even in acute bottleneck classifications, emergency rescue services report that only seven per cent of workers have an immigrant background, while police enforcement services stand at eight per cent. In broader civil administration, the share remains equally subdued: both public administration, classified under general bottleneck and demand, and judicial administration register just nine per cent.
However, the Destatis figures also highlight a stark divide between the private economy and state employment. In trades and private services, migrant labour has offset demographic decline, but state apparatuses show low single-digit participation:
Public administration: 9%
Judicial administration: 9%
Police enforcement services: 8%
Emergency medical and rescue services: 7%
While the statistical office refrained from providing political or institutional commentary in its release, analysts and labour economists point to civil service citizenship requirements (Beamtenstatus), complex professional credential recognition, and stringent language barriers as historic hurdles that keep workers of foreign origin away from public administration.
Employment among settled immigrants is close to the national average
The Destatis report breaks down employment rates among immigrants aged 25 to 59 by duration of residence and region of origin, documenting a strong correlation between length of residence and economic integration.
For the overall population in this prime working-age cohort (25–59 years), the domestic employment rate is 88 per cent for men and 81 per cent for women.
Among newly arrived immigrants (residing in Germany for under five years), participation rates are considerably lower, particularly among non-EU cohorts. Yet, as residence extends beyond 10 to 15 years, employment rates converge towards national averages:
Male migrants from the Middle East who have lived in Germany for a long time achieve an employment rate of 87 per cent, effectively matching the national male benchmark (88%).
Female migrants from the Middle East achieve a 79 per cent employment rate after extended stays, approaching the broader German female average of 81 per cent.
Destatis noted that the wider gender gap among recent arrivals is partly attributable to family reunification dynamics, in which female partners more often arrive as dependants and face delayed access to language courses, childcare, and direct employment pathways.
Immigrant workers replace retiring baby boomers
Data from the Federal Employment Agency and the Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung – IAB) provide macroeconomic context for the Destatis release.
Since January 2023, the number of German employees without an immigrant background has declined steadily as baby boomers retire. Between mid-2025 and mid-2026, employment among German nationals fell by roughly 258,000, while the number of employees with foreign nationality rose by 184,000. Over 11.4 million employed people in Germany now have an immigrant background. Without immigration, Germany's economy would have contracted significantly in real employment terms.
Furthermore, Destatis demographic records confirm that Germany’s population includes 21.8 million people with an immigrant background (and roughly 25.8 million under the broader definition of migration background). At the same time, citizenship naturalisations reached a record high of 333,343 in 2025, buoyed by the mid-2024 reform that allows dual nationality and reduces the residence requirement to five years.
*Methodological notes
The figures released by the Federal Statistical Office are the first preliminary results (Erstergebnisse) of the 2025 Microcensus (Mikrozensus). The Microcensus is a representative annual sample survey covering one per cent of the population living in private main-residence households.
The sample comprises dependent employees aged 15 and over. It explicitly excludes self-employed professionals and business owners, as well as individuals living in collective accommodation facilities (such as initial reception centres for asylum seekers).
Statistical definitions and generation limits
Under the Destatis methodology, the term ‘immigrant background’ (Einwanderungsgeschichte) applies strictly to first- and second-generation migrants. An individual meets this definition only if they themselves moved to Germany since 1950, or if both of their parents immigrated after that date.
Consequently, the third generation, such as the grandchildren of early post-war ‘guest workers’ (Gastarbeiter) born to German-born parents, is statistically classified as having no immigrant background. Furthermore, the survey cohort covers ‘payroll employees’ (abhängig Beschäftigte), including contracted payroll staff, wage earners, apprentices, and civil servants, while deliberately excluding the self-employed, freelance professionals, and unpaid family workers.
Further reading from The Immigrant Times: Turkish women in Germany || Immigrants and foreigners in Germany || Teaching refugees in Germany || Foreign doctors in Germany || German immigrant footballers ||
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