Foreigners Massively Overrepresented in German Unemployment Figures
9th April 2025
A significant portion of unemployed people in Germany have a migrant background. According to the federal employment office, 1.5 million out of the 2.8 million unemployed are migrants—they represent 54% of the total.
Among the migrants, 1,1 million people, 39% of all unemployed people, are foreigners—people without German citizenship. This means that they are hugely overrepresented in the unemployment figures, as foreigners make up 16% of the total population.
There is a similar trend among the long-term unemployed—defined as those who have been out of work for two years or more. Of the 881,000 long-term unemployed in Germany, 52% have a migrant background.
Differences between Germans and non-Germans also run through the levels of education. While 51% of unemployed Germans have not completed vocational training, the figure is almost 82% for non-Germans.
April 9th, 2025 at 14:24
Back in the early 1960s, my high school history teacher said the Middle Eastern people being brought to Germany to supplant the labour force was a Good Thing. I argued that it was not. Sixty years later, it appears I was correct. Unfortunately the old fellow is no longer with us.
April 9th, 2025 at 15:17
John Maynard Keynes once famously said, “In the long run we are all dead.” Except that he’s dead but we’re still alive and suffering from the deficiencies of his policy recommendations.