The pay gap between German and foreign full-time workers in Germany stood at 23.6% at the end of 2025, the Labour Ministry announced on Saturday.
The ministry was responding to a question raised by the far-right AfD in the German parliament, the Bundestag. It said median monthly pay for German full-time employees was €4,396 ($5,138), while that for foreign full-time employees was €3,358.
The gap is roughly on a par with levels seen in previous years since 2020 (23.1-25.5%).
Overall, in 2025, 30.6% of foreign full-time workers were on low wages, compared with 12.3% of German workers.
René Springer, the AfD's social policy spokesman, used the figures as an opportunity to criticize what the party views as the German government's overly lax immigration policy. He argued that this was putting massive pressure on wages.
However, the figures themselves can neither prove nor rule out a wage-dampening effect of immigration, as they do not show how wages would have developed in the absence of immigration.
Median earnings rose for both Germans and foreign nationals. The Federal Employment Agency (BA) and the federal government point out that earnings depend to a large extent on education, qualifications and professional experience.
According to a separate study by the Institute for Employment Research, wage differences between immigrants and native-born Germans can largely be attributed to the fact that "immigrants are less likely to be employed in high-paying sectors or positions."
In 2025, people without a vocational qualification earned a median wage of €3,133 in Germany, while for full-time employees with a recognized vocational qualification the figure was €4,069. For graduates, the figure was €6,146.