Germany hours worked, labour volume and working-time components
The IAB working-time calculation reconciles how many people work with how many hours the economy actually uses: hours per employee and total labour volume for full-time, part-time, side jobs and the self-employed, the components that move them - leave, sickness, paid and unpaid overtime, working-time accounts and short-time work - and the underlying structure of employment and usual weekly hours.
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | Q4-2023 | Q3-2023 | Q2-2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours worked and labour volume3 | ||||||||||||||
| Total labour volume2 | 14,376.76 | 15,732.57 | 15,488.55 | 15,612.06 | 14,446.15 | 15,762.32 | 15,621.56 | 15,758.47 | 14,672.53 | 15,764.93 | 15,479.65 | 15,669.27 | 14,591.3 | |
| Labour volume including side jobs2 | 12,899.85 | 14,138.32 | 13,914.33 | 13,984.39 | 12,927.44 | 14,123.26 | 13,997.92 | 14,073.83 | 13,090.69 | 14,074.49 | 13,805.63 | 13,933.38 | 12,971.48 | |
| Employee labour volume2 | 12,596.96 | 13,800.87 | 13,578.3 | 13,642.55 | 12,617.73 | 13,783.54 | 13,658.8 | 13,739.38 | 12,785.11 | 13,742.88 | 13,482.55 | 13,607.61 | 12,675.39 | |
| Full-time labour volume | 9,456.5 | 10,387.91 | 10,236.93 | 10,295.98 | 9,540.62 | 10,451.15 | 10,368.86 | 10,427.51 | 9,717.99 | 10,481.5 | 10,295.93 | 10,394.01 | 9,694.34 | |
| Part-time labour volume | 3,138.37 | 3,414.27 | 3,340.86 | 3,347.76 | 3,078.91 | 3,331.32 | 3,291.65 | 3,309.93 | 3,066.98 | 3,262.96 | 3,185.95 | 3,212.4 | 2,980.83 | |
| Side-job labour volume | 304.97 | 336.14 | 336.54 | 340.64 | 307.9 | 340.79 | 337.41 | 336.4 | 305.72 | 330.03 | 323.74 | 326.96 | 296.31 | |
| Self-employed labour volume | 1,476.91 | 1,594.24 | 1,574.22 | 1,627.68 | 1,518.71 | 1,639.06 | 1,623.64 | 1,684.63 | 1,581.85 | 1,690.44 | 1,674.02 | 1,735.89 | 1,619.82 | |
| Hours worked per person7 | ||||||||||||||
| Hours worked per employee | 299.4 | 329.4 | 320.5 | 323 | 298.8 | 328 | 321.8 | 325.1 | 302.9 | 327.5 | 318.3 | 322.7 | 301.3 | |
| Hours worked per full-time employee | 376.19 | 412.76 | 401.16 | 405.98 | 375.95 | 411.42 | 403.08 | 408.3 | 380.72 | 410.69 | 398.96 | 406 | 379.29 | |
| Hours worked per part-time employee | 185.31 | 204.08 | 198.3 | 198.37 | 182.71 | 200.43 | 196.86 | 197.92 | 183.83 | 198.46 | 192.49 | 193.91 | 180.55 | |
| Hours worked in side jobs | 66.22 | 73.71 | 71.74 | 72.96 | 67.63 | 74.64 | 72.68 | 73.03 | 68.17 | 73.52 | 70.93 | 72.17 | 67.38 | |
| Hours worked including side jobs | 306.6 | 337.5 | 328.4 | 331.1 | 306.1 | 336.1 | 329.8 | 333 | 310.1 | 335.4 | 325.9 | 330.4 | 308.3 | |
| Hours worked per self-employed person | 408.66 | 439.43 | 432.48 | 445.33 | 413.59 | 443.95 | 437.52 | 451.4 | 421.83 | 448.75 | 442.39 | 456.57 | 424.15 | |
| Hours worked per person in work | 314.7 | 345.6 | 336.7 | 340.2 | 314.7 | 344.8 | 338.5 | 342.6 | 319.3 | 344.7 | 335.5 | 340.9 | 318 | |
| Persons in work1 | 45,688 | 45,525 | 46,006 | 45,892 | 45,900 | 45,715 | 46,156 | 45,994 | 45,959 | 45,730 | 46,142 | 45,970 | 45,888 | |
| Self-employed and family workers | 3,614 | 3,628 | 3,640 | 3,655 | 3,672 | 3,692 | 3,711 | 3,732 | 3,750 | 3,767 | 3,784 | 3,802 | 3,819 | |
| Working-time components8 | ||||||||||||||
| Leave and other time off | 8.61 | 5.51 | 6.76 | 10.14 | 8.6 | 5.51 | 6.72 | 10.16 | 8.55 | 5.55 | 6.74 | 10.16 | 8.53 | |
| Sickness absence3 | ||||||||||||||
| Sickness absence rate | 5.28 | 6.09 | 6.14 | 5.62 | 5.2 | 6.46 | 5.87 | 5.66 | 5.29 | 6.89 | 6.73 | 5.37 | 5.08 | |
| Sickness absence in working days | 3.14 | 3.79 | 3.78 | 3.7 | 3.09 | 4.02 | 3.59 | 3.73 | 3.19 | 4.32 | 4.11 | 3.48 | 3.01 | |
| Sickness absence in working hours | 19.12 | 23.09 | 22.96 | 22.55 | 18.79 | 24.47 | 21.75 | 22.72 | 19.45 | 26.27 | 24.9 | 21.18 | 18.34 | |
| Overtime4 | ||||||||||||||
| Paid overtime per employee | 2.85 | 2.86 | 3.45 | 3.47 | 3.04 | 3.15 | 4.03 | 4.17 | 3.47 | 3.23 | 3.57 | 3.42 | 3.12 | |
| Paid overtime volume | 119.82 | 119.65 | 146.04 | 146.67 | 128.21 | 132.41 | 171.03 | 176.22 | 146.27 | 135.39 | 151.28 | 144.02 | 131.23 | |
| Unpaid overtime per employee | 4.27 | 4.11 | 4.59 | 4.36 | 4.44 | 4.44 | 5.23 | 5.2 | 5.19 | 4.81 | 5.11 | 4.71 | 4.66 | |
| Unpaid overtime volume | 179.58 | 172.07 | 194.39 | 184.31 | 187.48 | 186.39 | 221.81 | 219.72 | 219.04 | 201.7 | 216.54 | 198.54 | 195.97 | |
| Change in working-time accounts | -0.43 | -0.3 | 0.37 | -0.23 | -1.11 | -0.45 | 0.89 | 0.41 | -0.5 | -0.38 | 1.21 | 0.4 | 0.16 | |
| Short-time work5 | ||||||||||||||
| Short-time workers | 149.41 | 441.74 | 235.56 | 192.06 | 232.75 | 528.86 | 311.01 | 201.07 | 212.17 | 467.96 | 253.03 | 128.15 | 152.19 | |
| Work loss per short-time worker | 35.57 | 41.64 | 30.29 | 31.87 | 29.34 | 35.62 | 27.13 | 29.3 | 28.47 | 35.42 | 28.94 | 30.98 | 29.02 | |
| Lost hours per short-time worker | 110.55 | 143.8 | 100.6 | 108.42 | 91.38 | 122.5 | 89.48 | 99.63 | 90.67 | 122.11 | 94.71 | 103.95 | 90.97 | |
| Short-time work loss volume | 16.52 | 63.52 | 23.7 | 20.82 | 21.27 | 64.78 | 27.83 | 20.03 | 19.24 | 57.14 | 23.96 | 13.32 | 13.85 | |
| Short-time work effect | 0.39 | 1.52 | 0.56 | 0.49 | 0.5 | 1.54 | 0.66 | 0.47 | 0.46 | 1.36 | 0.57 | 0.32 | 0.33 | |
| Bad-weather effect | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Industrial-dispute effect | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | |
| Adjustment for calendar effects | 2.78 | 1.58 | 2.43 | -0.91 | 2.77 | 1.57 | 4.61 | -0.79 | -1.12 | 0.35 | 4.59 | 3.08 | 2.75 | |
| Employment and working-time structure4 | ||||||||||||||
| Usual weekly hours, all employees2 | 30.5 | 30.46 | 30.35 | 30.47 | 30.45 | 30.42 | 30.32 | 30.48 | 30.49 | 30.44 | 30.31 | 30.43 | 30.44 | |
| Usual weekly hours, full-time | 38.32 | 38.16 | 38 | 38.31 | 38.31 | 38.14 | 37.99 | 38.31 | 38.31 | 38.15 | 37.99 | 38.31 | 38.31 | |
| Usual weekly hours, part-time | 18.88 | 18.89 | 18.77 | 18.68 | 18.62 | 18.61 | 18.53 | 18.53 | 18.52 | 18.47 | 18.33 | 18.25 | 18.24 | |
| Employees2 | 42,074 | 41,897 | 42,366 | 42,237 | 42,228 | 42,023 | 42,445 | 42,262 | 42,209 | 41,963 | 42,358 | 42,168 | 42,069 | |
| Full-time employees | 25,137.82 | 25,166.68 | 25,518.27 | 25,360.58 | 25,377.09 | 25,402.37 | 25,724.14 | 25,538.84 | 25,525.4 | 25,521.64 | 25,806.95 | 25,601.14 | 25,559.29 | |
| Part-time employees | 16,936.18 | 16,730.32 | 16,847.73 | 16,876.42 | 16,850.91 | 16,620.63 | 16,720.86 | 16,723.16 | 16,683.6 | 16,441.36 | 16,551.05 | 16,566.86 | 16,509.71 | |
| Part-time rate | 40.25 | 39.93 | 39.77 | 39.96 | 39.9 | 39.55 | 39.39 | 39.57 | 39.53 | 39.18 | 39.07 | 39.29 | 39.24 | |
| Multiple jobholders | 4,605.2 | 4,560.29 | 4,691.42 | 4,669.09 | 4,552.49 | 4,565.55 | 4,642.29 | 4,606.46 | 4,484.66 | 4,489.03 | 4,564.34 | 4,530.44 | 4,397.73 |
Latest reading
Hours worked per employee stood at 299.4 Hours in Q2 2026. That is −9.1% from Q1 2026 and +0.2% from a year earlier. The series on this page is quarterly and runs from Q1 1991 to Q2 2026. Source: Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency.
- Latest
- 299.4 Hours
- Q2 2026
- vs previous period
- −9.1%
- Q1 2026
- vs a year earlier
- +0.2%
About this data
The IAB working-time calculation reconciles how many people work with how many hours the economy actually uses: hours per employee and total labour volume for full-time, part-time, side jobs and the self-employed, the components that move them - leave, sickness, paid and unpaid overtime, working-time accounts and short-time work - and the underlying structure of employment and usual weekly hours.
