Overview
- An official reply by the federal government citing Destatis reports 19.3% of employees earned under €15 per hour in April 2025, totaling 7.7 million people.
- The low‑pay threshold stood at €14.32 per hour, with about 5 million earning under €14 and around 10 million under €16.
- Hospitality accounted for more than 1.1 million sub‑€15 jobs, with motor‑vehicle trade and maintenance, economic services, agriculture, and arts also heavily affected.
- Roughly 6.5 million of those under €15 worked in West Germany and nearly 1.2 million in the East, with about 4.3 million women and 3.4 million men affected.
- The statutory minimum wage is €13.90 per hour and is scheduled to rise to €14.60 in early 2027, while union‑affiliated analysis says €15.12 would be needed to reach the EU’s 60%‑of‑median benchmark and politicians call for stronger collective bargaining.