Germany: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Germany's proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) rose 0.9 percentage points on 2021 (from 11.6% to 12.5%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.8 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.5 percentage points in 1996. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.22 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 76% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 12.73% for 2025. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2020 to 2022 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.38%, against 0.73% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

Closest to Germany in the 2022 ranking

• Kosovo — 2nd of 9: 21.1%
• Israel — 3rd of 9: 21%
• Viet Nam — 4th of 9: 13.4%
• China — 6th of 9: 12.2%
• Canada — 7th of 9: 10.9%
• Mongolia — 8th of 9: 9.7%

What this measures

The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.

Limitations: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards.

All 32 values

Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) in nearby economies

• Albania — 9.6% (2020)
• Armenia — 6.2% (2024)
• Austria — 11% (2023)
• Belarus — 3.9% (2020)
• Belgium — 8.3% (2023)
• Bulgaria — 14.6% (2023)
• Croatia — 12.1% (2023)
• Cyprus — 7.5% (2023)
• Czechia — 7% (2023)

More poverty data for Germany

• Income share held by second 20% — 12.8% (2022)
• Income share held by third 20% — 17% (2022)
• Income share held by fourth 20% — 22.3% (2022)
• Income share held by highest 20% — 40.9% (2022)
• Income share held by highest 10% — 26.2% (2022)
• Income share held by lowest 10% — 2.3% (2022)
• Income share held by lowest 20% — 6.9% (2022)
• Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — 0.7% (2022)
• Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (%) — 0.6% (2022)
• Gini index — 33.7 (2022)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Germany's proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%)?

12.5% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is up 5.3 percentage points from 7.2% in 1991. The highest value was 12.5% in 2022 and the lowest 6.5% in 1993.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SI.DST.50MD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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