Key takeaways
- Germany is not perfect, but it has a lot to offer.
- There is a huge labor shortage in Germany. Germany needs 400,000 immigrants per year.
- Due to inflation, settling a family in Germany in 2024 is financially tough.
Table of Contents
Are you planning to move to Germany? Germany is a great place to live.
Many expats are immigrating to Germany to make it their new home. However, beware that many expats are also leaving Germany.
In this guide, we share the feedback of expats living and those leaving Germany. We also share the results of the survey we conducted among the expats in Germany.
Here is what we found.
Pros and cons of living in Germany summarized (as of 2024)
| Pros of living in Germany | Cons of living in Germany |
| Work-life balance | Healthcare is deteriorating |
| Job security | Reduced pension benefits |
| Free education | Language |
| People have a high level of trust | Bureaucracy |
| Germany offers a lot for travelers | Hard to integrate |
| Clean air and water | Deteriorating education system |
| Unlimited sick leaves | Housing crisis: Hard to find a rental apartment |
| Social benefits | Low wages as compared to the US |
| Germany is a safe country | Can’t bring your parents to Germany permanently |
| 3 years of parental leave | It is financially challenging to settle a family in Germany in 2024 as a sole earner. |
| Child allowance of 250 € per month per child | Long winters and short summer |
| Have to wait for 3 to 8 months to get a doctor’s appointment |
Let’s dig deeper into each point to learn more.
Survey results of things that influence foreigners to leave Germany
Source: GermanPedia Survey
We surveyed expats in different Facebook groups on factors that made them leave or think about leaving Germany. A total of 2628 people voted.
Almost 22% of the people voted “Language” as the main factor that made them leave Germany. Next to language are “Tough to integrate” and “Bureaucracy.”
Language plays a significant role in integrating with the locals. However, expats found Germans to be cold.
The table below summarizes the survey results.
| Total votes | 2628 | |
|---|---|---|
| Factors | Vote | Percentage |
| Language | 578 | 21.99% |
| Tough to integrate | 368 | 14.00% |
| Bureaucracy | 276 | 10.50% |
| High taxes | 269 | 10.24% |
| Housing problem | 212 | 8.07% |
| High cost of living | 203 | 7.72% |
| Deteriorating healthcare | 135 | 5.14% |
| Weather | 102 | 3.88% |
| Schooling | 58 | 2.21% |
| Difficult to bring adult family members like parents to Germany | 53 | 2.02% |
| No to very little savings | 34 | 1.29% |
| No to very less savings | 27 | 1.03% |
| Dissatisfactory social life | 26 | 0.99% |
| Poor tech, outdated internet, no real startup culture, lack of innovation | 20 | 0.76% |
| Increased crime rate | 11 | 0.42% |
| Racism | 10 | 0.38% |
| Discrimination during job interviews (woman in her 30s) | 8 | 0.30% |
| Poor salary for highly skilled jobs | 5 | 0.19% |
Source: GermanPedia survey
What do expats love about Germany?
Work-life balance
Germans respect their and your personal life. They know how to keep professional and personal separate. This cultural aspect has also shaped German labor laws.
- In Germany, you get 30 days of holidays. Unlike many countries, these 30 days don’t include sick leave and public holidays.
- No one asks, nor must you share your personal number with your colleagues.
- No one calls you after office hours.
- No 12-hour shift. German labor laws don’t allow employers to make their employees work more than 10 hours a day.
- On top of that, employees must have a break of at least 10 hours between two work shifts.
- Employees must also have a break of at least 45 minutes if they work more than 6 hours.
- Lastly, if you work more than 10 hours in an exceptional case, you are not allowed to drive back home. Your employer must arrange a transport for you.
Job security
Considering the current job market and mass layoffs, you may disagree with this point. However, German laws are strong and favor employees.
A company in Germany cannot just fire you the next day without giving you a notice and a fair severance package.
Labor associations
Labor associations (Betriebsrat) in Germany are powerful. They protect employees’ interests and negotiate on their behalf.
- Labor associations make it even tougher for companies to fire employees just because the stock took a dive.
- They negotiate salary hikes on behalf of the employee
- You can contact your local labor association’s representative if you have problems with your manager or company. They will explain your rights and can help you in resolving the situation.
Free education
Not only schools but also universities don’t have any tuition fees in Germany. So, you don’t have to start your career with a student debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Trust
Unless you live in Berlin, the trust level is high in other German cities. Germans trust you and believe what you say.
This makes many things simpler than in other countries. Unfortunately, some people take advantage of this fact.
Travel
Germany and Europe are famous among travelers. There are plenty of beautiful places, cuisine, culture, and history to discover. From beaches to mountains, you find it all here.
Moreover, in Germany and Europe, you can find all the weather. Add to this the lack of border control and cheap public transport.
Clean air and water
Not every country has clean air and water like Germany. This is enough for many to make Germany their new home.
Unlimited sick leaves
If you are sick, you rest and recover. It’s normal for people to take a week or two off to recover.
You even get a full salary for up to six weeks of sick leave. After that, your health insurance pays up to 90% of your net salary when you are sick.
Safety
Germany is ranked 15th out of 163 countries in UNESCO’s Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks countries based on their overall peacefulness.
You can travel alone at night without fear of getting mugged or robbed. It’s common for children to travel alone on public transport or cycle to school.
Social benefits
Germany offers many social benefits to its residents, such as health insurance, pension, long-term care insurance, unemployment insurance, etc.
People with low income get even more benefits like social housing, lower taxes, etc.
What do expat parents love about Germany?
Equal chance
Even if you don’t earn well, your children will have an equal opportunity to be successful in Germany.
Germany’s basic law emphasizes that education should not be limited to people with high incomes, nor should people be able to buy opportunities for their kids.
The German government offers many social benefits to families with low income.
Families can apply for a social benefit pass. This pass allows them to use subsidized public transport and tickets to museums, zoos, etc.
3 years of parental leave
Parents get money (Elterngeld) for 14 months after the birth of their child. They can even take parental leave for up to 3 years.
Moreover, your employer can’t fire you during parental leave. It’s very common for parents in Germany to take 12 to 18 months of leave after childbirth.
Child allowance
Every parent in Germany gets a child allowance of 250 € per month per child in Germany.
Things many expats love and, at the same time, many hate about Germany
Rules
Germans love rules and regulations. They follow the rules and expect others to follow them.
Moreover, Germans don’t shy away from suing others for their rights. 23.4 million active legal insurance contracts as of 2022 support it.
Some foreigners love this aspect, and some hate it. But I personally find following rules makes life simpler and easier.
Planning
The second thing Germany loves is planning. They even plan and make an appointment to meet their parents.
It’s normal for a German to make an appointment to meet a friend or family 3 months in the future. Germans don’t like if someone doesn’t stick to the plan.
So, if you don’t like to plan things, prepare yourself for a huge cultural shock.
Say what you mean
Most Germans say what they mean. There is no read between the lines. For some expats, this is a big change, and they may find Germans rude.
However, once you embrace it, it’ll be difficult for you to go back to sugarcoating things.
Commitment and punctuality
Germans are punctual to the minute. If they told you they’ll meet at 15:15 after three months, you bet they’ll be there.
Even small things like you asked for a book or a magazine. You may forget that your German friend promised to give it to you but they won’t.
It’s great, right?
However, Germans expect the same from you. Many people are not used to being on time or need constant reminders. These people need some time to adjust to the German way of life.
Things expats loved about Germany that are deteriorating
German health system
In Germany, everyone is legally required to have health insurance. The premiums of the state insurance depend on income. You can even insure your non-working family members for free.
Furthermore, the services offered in state healthcare are much better than those in countries like the USA and Canada.
Unfortunately, the German public healthcare system is not doing well and is facing financial challenges. There is a high probability that Germany won’t be able to offer high-quality healthcare at an affordable price in the near future.
You can already see the effects of deteriorating healthcare.
- Getting a doctor’s appointment requires longer waiting times (6 to 8 months).
- Doctors not accepting new patients
- German government reducing the medical coverage each year
- Health insurance premiums have been increasing at a rate of 3.2% per annum for a decade.
Education system
Germany offers free education, and the German school system used to be one of the best in the world.
However, German schools are facing teacher shortages. The quality of education in schools is also deteriorating.
Schools don’t have money to upgrade the infrastructure, and the education content has not been revised for a long time.
This has led to the opening of several private schools over the last decade, and parents prefer private schools over public ones.
As you may have guessed, private schools are not free. Thus, it’s tough for parents with low incomes to afford them.
Pension system
The German pension system relies on young professionals to pay for retired individuals. However, Germany has an aging population.
So, by 2050, there won’t be enough young professionals to pay for the large number of retirees. This has led the government to reduce the current pension benefits, and experts predict that the government will cut benefits even further.
What do expats hate about Germany?
Bureaucracy
Germany is famous for its tiring bureaucracy. If you want to do anything here, you must fill out tons of forms, submit documents, wait for appointments, and the list goes on.
The paperwork is even more difficult for self-employed individuals. And if you miss a deadline or do something wrong mistakenly, you end up paying fines.
Visa appointments
Your visa has expired, and you need it to sign your employment contract. Many people lose their job offers because they don’t get visa appointments.
The situation is even worse in big cities like Berlin, Stuttgart, etc. Many expats even camp overnight outside the foreign office to be able to get an appointment.
Language
Many people in Germany speak English. However, you cannot survive on English alone.
You need German language skills to make friends, communicate with doctors, climb up in management, and more. Unfortunately, learning German is tougher than you can imagine.
This is the biggest challenge expats face in Germany.
Moreover, the whole German bureaucracy is in German. So, if you don’t know the language, you’ll feel like running around like a headless chicken.
Housing crisis
Finding an affordable place to live in Germany is next to impossible. There is a long line of people looking for an apartment, and rents have increased significantly in the past ten years.
Many expats change around five places within 12 months because they can’t find a permanent place to live. On average, people need six months to find a place in big cities like Berlin, Stuggart, etc.
Many scammers are taking advantage of this housing shortage. To learn more, read our guide on German rental scams.
Integration
Integrating with the locals can be tough, depending on which city you move to. Language barriers and cultural differences are among the biggest reasons for this.
Expat parents have completely different issues
As you may imagine, German education is in German. So, if you can’t speak German, talking to your child’s teacher, friends, and parents will be challenging.
Moreover, you won’t be able to help your child with their studies. Of course, there are ways to overcome these challenges. However, children’s education is a big factor in the many expats leaving Germany.
Can’t bring your parents
In many cultures, old parents and their son’s family live together in the same house. So, it’s important for them to bring their parents to Germany.
However, German laws prevent that. This leaves expats no choice but to move to a different country or return home.
Inflation
Inflation has affected almost every country in the world. Germany is not an exception.
The price of basic commodities, like food, heating, electricity, etc., has doubled after Corona. So, settling in Germany in 2024 is expensive and may not be worth it financially.
Hand-to-mouth
Many expats move to Germany after getting a job offer. They bring their family and kids with them. However, they are the sole earners in the family.
Setting up a family in Germany where only one person earns is financially tough in 2024. Add the above-mentioned challenges, and Germany becomes unattractive to many.
Can’t get a doctor’s appointment
The first challenge is to find a doctor who accepts you as their patient. The next challenge is to get an appointment.
People insured by public insurance get specialist appointments after 3 to 6 months. You must also wait hours in the emergency before a doctor treats you.
This is also one of the reasons many people switch to private health insurance in Germany.
Weather
Last but not least is Germany’s weather. It’s not as bad as Canada, but it’s not the best.
You have long winters and very short summers. If you have a pollen allergy, your time in Germany will worsen.
Lower wages as compared to other Western countries
Germany is not individuals who want to earn money. Don’t expect a package of half a million or a million in Germany.
On average, a highly-paid IT professional in Germany earns 100k € gross per annum. You can deduct 42% as tax and social security contributions.
Is it worth moving to Germany?
Germany is not perfect, but it’s a great country worth exploring. To help you decide, we have listed the main pros and cons of living in Germany.
It’s all about comparing one country against another based on your preferences. Here are some more details to help you decide.
Things you should know about Germany before deciding to make the move
Cost of living in Germany
The cost of living in Germany varies from city to city. Metropolitan cities like Munich, Berlin, and Stuttgart are among the most expensive.
Rents are high, and food costs have increased drastically after the COVID and the Ukraine war.
Here is the data from Numbeo.
| Estimated monthly costs without rent (family of four) | Estimated monthly costs without rent (single) | |
| Germany (average) | 3,334.3 € | 980.2 € |
| Munich | 3,673.3€ | 1,078.7€ |
| Berlin | 3,433.6€ | 1,013.4€ |
| Stuttgart | 3,441.7€ | 1,002.1€ |
| Hamburg | 3,619.0€ | 1,053.8€ |
| Frankfurt | 3,400.0€ | 994 € |
Rent in Germany
| 1 bedroom apartment in city centre | 1 bedroom apartment outside city centre | 3 bedroom apartment in city centre | 3 bedroom apartment outside city centre | |
| Germany (average) | 912.08 € | 692.01 € | 1,668.73 € | 1,280.78 € |
| Munich | 1,463.95 € | 1,194.28 € | 2,687.18 € | 2,100.00 € |
| Berlin | 1,259.42 € | 896.84 € | 2,314.31 € | 1,751.46 € |
| Stuttgart | 1,063.24 € | 778.57 € | 1,787.64 € | 1,403.21 € |
| Hamburg | 1,023.45 € | 758.00 € | 1,905.33 € | 1,369.72 € |
| Frankfurt | 1,205.92 € | 862.31 € | 2,068.33 € | 1,510.42 € |
Quality of Life in Germany
Germany is a developed country with one of Europe’s strongest economies and a high standard of living.
- Germany offers one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
- Free education. However, Germany’s education system is deteriorating.
- Clean air and water
- Good public transport to get around Germany
- People who prefer a work-life balance over money would love to work in Germany.
Job opportunities in Germany
Germany has an aging population and needs 400,000 immigrants per year to fill the gap. [1] Germany has a huge shortage of medical staff, teachers, people in emergency services, and highly skilled labor.
Thus, Germany offers a big opportunity for people in these fields. However, fluent German is required for most professions.
German is not a requirement for people in IT.
Ease to get Germany’s visa
As you already read, Germany needs 400,000 immigrants per year. The German government is making it easy for people to get job-seeking visas.
The German government also plans to give immigrants 3 years of tax rebate. The eligibility criteria for permanent residency and German citizenship have also been lessened.
