Germany's 17% wage gap persists 35 years after reunification
More than 35 years after reunification, full-time employees in western Germany still earn around 17 percent more in gross pay than their counterparts in the east, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office obtained by Søren Pellmann, leader of the Left Party's parliamentary group.
In 2025, the average gross annual earnings—including bonuses—stood at €55,435 in the west, compared to €46,013 in the east. These figures represent the median, the statistical midpoint dividing the top 50 percent of earners from the bottom 50 percent. Hourly gross wages averaged €25.61 in the west and €21.36 in the east.
Gap Persists
Last year, the trade union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation also calculated a 17 percent pay gap. Experts attribute the disparity in part to lower collective bargaining coverage in the east, where employees under union-negotiated contracts typically earn higher wages. At the same time, living costs and rents in eastern Germany's rural regions are often significantly lower.
Pellmann called the enduring wage divide a "declaration of bankruptcy" and a political failure. He cited weak collective bargaining as a key factor, as well as "an economic model that has treated the east as a low-wage region for far too long." The Left Party politician from Leipzig added: "While corporations and employers profit from wage disparities, workers from the Baltic Sea to the Ore Mountains are footing the bill."
Unions Push for Action Plan
Pellmann demanded a higher minimum wage and stronger collective bargaining, proposing that public contracts be awarded only to companies bound by union agreements. "As long as the east is systematically left behind on wages, reunification remains incomplete," he said.
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) urged the federal government to implement the EU's minimum wage directive by adopting an action plan to boost collective bargaining. DGB board member Stefan Körzell called for measures including digital access rights for unions to enter workplaces, the continued validity of collective agreements when companies are restructured, and a simplified process for declaring such agreements universally binding.
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