OECD report Germany: Status of immigrant integration

The recently published report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the integration of immigrants paints a mixed picture for Germany. While the country performs well in some areas, in others it falls behind. Key findings include:

High employment rate

In international comparison, Germany achieves good results in the labour market integration of immigrants. In 2022 their employment rate stood at 70%, which is higher than in most EU comparison countries. 

Educational deficits

Germany is lagging behind in terms of education for immigrants: the school performance of immigrant children and young people lags behind that of children of German parents. Children whose parents are also immigrants are particularly affected.

Language support and integration courses

The report gives a positive assessment of language support through integration courses. Over 50% of employable migrants take part in these courses, significantly more than the EU average. However, there is still a shortage of places for asylum seekers.

Challenges for women and low-skilled workers

Immigrant women have a particularly hard time in the job market, especially mothers with small children. Only 40% of immigrant women were employed in 2021, compared to over 70% of mothers born in Germany. The proportion of low-skilled migrants is also a challenge: 1 in 6 immigrants has no school qualifications, and of these, only 50% are employed. Migrants make up 70% of people without school qualifications in Germany.

Potential of highly qualified migrants

At the time of the study, there were 600 000 highly qualified academics living in Germany who were not employed in a job that matched their qualifications. There is considerable potential here that could be better utilised in view of the shortage of skilled workers.

Population size and additional challenges

Germany has the second largest immigrant population in absolute numbers after the USA. In 2022, over 14 million immigrants lived in the country, plus over a million Ukrainians and approximately 600 000 asylum seekers.

Overall, the OECD report shows that Germany has achieved some success in integrating immigrants, but that significant challenges still exist. The progress in the areas of employment integration and language support is encouraging, but there is still a lot to be done, particularly in the education system and in the integration of certain groups.

The OECD report, which was supported by the Federal Government's Commissioner for Integration, Reem Alabali-Radovan, looked at two main groups: people born outside Germany and people born in Germany but with parents who were both born abroad. In total, the OECD covers 38 countries and 15 of these countries were used for comparison for the study. Alabali-Radovan stressed that integration is working better than is often portrayed and that the report could bring more objectivity to the migration debate. However, the education system and the employment integration of women and low-skilled workers must be further improved.