Foreign nationals stabilise German labour market
The Federal Employment Agency reported that migrants have been contributing considerably to safeguarding of employment levels in Germany. Among other aspects, this is due to successful labour market integration.
Nuremberg (dpa) – The Federal Employment Agency reported that the influx of asylum seekers has played a considerable role in safeguarding employment levels in the German labour market in recent years. The agency stated in Nuremberg that the increase in employment between June 2014 and June 2025 was borne primarily by workers who are foreign nationals. People from third countries accounted for 43 percent of the increase in employment, and around a third of these people are from the eight most prominent countries of origin of asylum seekers.
Without immigration from abroad, Germany’s working population would already have decreased considerably. The number of working-age people holding a German passport declined by some 3.9 million between 2014 and 2024. At the same time, the number of people who are able to work and do not have a German passport rose by 3.4 million.
“This development is in part due to successful labour market integration. Refugees have contributed considerably to employment growth,” said Daniel Terzenbach, a board member of the Federal Employment Agency. He continued by saying that the number of employees contributing to social insurance from the most prominent countries of origin of refugees had more than doubled over the past five years. Syria and Afghanistan are the two most important countries of origin here.
