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Market watch · 43

German factories employ the fewest people since 2010

Manufacturing went from 7,773,000 people in 2019 to 7,262,000 in 2025, while public services gained 1,084,000.

Germany still has more people in work than before the pandemic, but fewer of them make things. Here is what the national accounts count, where people work now, what a net fall of half a million does and does not mean, and what it means if you are hiring or looking for work in Germany.

By The Market Desk · · 5 min read · Share

7,773,000people in German manufacturing in 2019
7,262,000in 2025, the fewest since 2010
+1,084,000people more in public administration, education and health than in 2019

German manufacturing employment is at its lowest since 2010

20107,142
20117,285
20127,413
20137,438
20147,481
20157,512
20167,534
20177,603
20187,731
20197,773
20207,586
20217,470
20227,486
20237,490
20247,415
20257,262
Persons employed in manufacturing, Germany, annual averages, 2010 to 2025, thousands. National accounts, domestic concept. Eurostat marks 2023 to 2025 as provisional. Eurostat, nama_10_a10_e, read 23 October 2026.

Where people work now

In 2025, 7,262,000 people worked in German manufacturing, against 7,773,000 in 2019 and 7,415,000 in 2024. That is 511,000 fewer than in 2019, and 153,000 fewer in the last year alone.

Public administration, education and health went the other way, from 11,284,000 to 12,368,000, a gain of 1,084,000. Information and communication gained 186,000.

Trade, transport and hospitality employed 220,000 fewer people than in 2019. Across every sector, employment was 45,878,000, 587,000 more than in 2019 and 82,000 fewer than in 2024.

Provenance: Source
Persons employed by sector, Germany, 2019, 2024 and 2025, thousands, annual averages, and the change since 2019 in thousands. National accounts, domestic concept. 2024 and 2025 are provisional. Eurostat, nama_10_a10_e.
Sector201920242025Since 2019
Manufacturing7,7737,4157,262-511
Public administration, education, health11,28412,17812,368+1,084
Trade, transport, hospitality10,24710,07910,027-220
Professional and support services6,2006,2486,196-4
Construction2,5592,6132,579+20
Information and communication1,3801,5721,566+186
Finance and insurance1,0931,0861,0930
Real estate479523525+46
Arts and other services3,0763,0323,043-33
Agriculture, forestry, fishing599565554-45
All sectors45,29145,96045,878+587

People, not jobs cut

The national accounts count persons employed: employees and the self-employed, part-time or full-time, each once. A fall of 511,000 is the difference between two annual averages.

It is not a count of layoffs. It says nothing about how many people left, retired or were not replaced, or about which businesses they worked for.

Manufacturing is narrower than industry. Energy, mining and water supply are outside it, and construction, at 2,579,000 people in 2025, is a sector of its own.

Provenance: SourceWhat this counts
  1. PERSONS EMPLOYED: employees and the self-employed, part-time or full-time, each counted once, in the national accounts. A fall in their number is a net change, not a count of jobs cut.
  2. MANUFACTURING: the businesses that make things. Energy, mining and water supply are outside it, and construction is counted on its own.
  3. THE YEAR: each figure is the average of its year, for everyone employed by a business in Germany, wherever they live. Eurostat marks 2023, 2024 and 2025 as provisional.

So 511,000 does not say that half a million people were laid off: it says that in 2025 German manufacturing employed, on average, 511,000 fewer people than in 2019.

A count of people, a sector drawn narrowly and a year that is still provisional, and a reading that forgets any of them says what the source does not.

The fewest since 2010

At 7,262,000, manufacturing employed fewer people than in any year since 2010, when it was 7,142,000. It was 10,066,000 in 1991, the first year of the series.

Its share of everyone in work fell from 17.2% in 2019 to 15.8% in 2025. Manufacturing employment fell in 2020 and 2021, rose slightly in 2022 and 2023, and has fallen in each of the last two years.

Eurostat marks the figures for 2023, 2024 and 2025 as provisional. They will be revised: 2025 is 23,000 people below 2011 and 120,000 above 2010.

Provenance: Source
Persons employed, Germany, 2015 to 2025, thousands, annual averages, and manufacturing’s share of all persons employed, per cent. National accounts, domestic concept. Eurostat, nama_10_a10_e.
YearManufacturingAll sectorsShare
20157,51243,13717.4%
20167,53443,68617.2%
20177,60344,29017.2%
20187,73144,87817.2%
20197,77345,29117.2%
20207,58644,96616.9%
20217,47045,04116.6%
20227,48645,62216.4%
2023 (provisional)7,49045,90916.3%
2024 (provisional)7,41545,96016.1%
2025 (provisional)7,26245,87815.8%

What these figures do not say

They do not say why. Nothing here measures energy prices, trade, demand, technology or the age of the workforce, and no policy is assessed.

They do not break manufacturing down by industry, company or region, and they compare Germany only with itself.

They describe annual averages up to 2025, and none of this is a forecast.

What this means for you

If you are hiring in Germany

German manufacturing had 511,000 fewer people in 2025 than in 2019, and 153,000 fewer than in 2024, while public administration, education and health gained 1,084,000. The figures are net and say nothing about who left or why, but they say where the people in work now are: 27.0% in public administration, education and health, against 15.8% in manufacturing.

If you are looking for work in Germany

If you are looking in manufacturing, you are looking in a sector that employed 7,262,000 people in 2025, its fewest since 2010. Public administration, education and health employed 12,368,000, and information and communication 1,566,000, 186,000 more than in 2019.

How this was counted

Method

  1. One table. Eurostat, nama_10_a10_e (employment by A*10 industry breakdowns, national accounts), Germany, persons employed, domestic concept, thousands, updated on 21 October 2026 and read through Eurostat’s API on 23 October 2026 at 20:56 (+01:00). Germany’s figures come from Destatis.
  2. THE MEASURE. Persons employed are employees and the self-employed, each counted once whatever their hours, working for a business resident in Germany. Each year is an annual average.
  3. THE SECTORS. Eurostat’s A*10 breakdown: manufacturing is NACE section C; public administration, education and health are sections O to Q. The table prints the ten sectors and their total as Eurostat publishes them.
  4. THE CALCULATIONS. Every change and share is computed by the desk from the published figures in thousands: manufacturing’s share is manufacturing divided by all sectors.
  5. LIMITS. Eurostat marks 2023, 2024 and 2025 as provisional. The table has no breakdown inside manufacturing, no regions and no counts of jobs created or cut, and nothing here names a cause.
What the data establishes, and what it does not

What the data establishes

  • German manufacturing employed 7,262,000 people in 2025, against 7,773,000 in 2019 and 7,415,000 in 2024.
  • That is the fewest in any year since 2010, when it was 7,142,000.
  • Public administration, education and health gained 1,084,000 people between 2019 and 2025.
  • Total employment was 45,878,000 in 2025, 587,000 more than in 2019 and 82,000 fewer than in 2024.

What it does not

  • That 511,000 people were laid off: the figure is a net change in an annual average.
  • Why manufacturing employment fell: no cause, including energy prices, trade or technology, is measured.
  • Which industries, companies or regions inside manufacturing lost or gained people.
  • How Germany compares with any other country.
  • What happens after 2025: the figures are provisional, and nothing here is a forecast.
Primary sources

Primary sources

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