Flight From Taxes: Record Number of Germans Leaving as Six-Figure Earners Face Shrinking Nets
Published on 07/16/2026 at 16:55 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Between 270,000 and 290,000 German citizens emigrated in each of the last two years, a trend that shows no sign of slowing. Surveys from a major jobs portal indicate roughly two-thirds of all employees can imagine working abroad. The primary drivers are better pay (50.8 percent), higher quality of life (50.7 percent), and a lower tax burden (41.5 percent). The urge to leave is strongest among households with net monthly incomes above €6,000.
To land in the top one percent of German earners, a gross annual salary of €139,000 is required, according to a Stepstone analysis covering January 2022 through November 2025. The threshold for the top five percent sits at €101,250, and the top ten percent starts at €87,000. Geographically, the highest pay clusters in Hamburg, Hesse, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg, while eastern states have much lower cutoffs — in Saxony-Anhalt, €101,500 is enough for the top one percent.
Inside those top brackets, variances by profession and management rank are sharp. A chief physician’s median gross annual pay is €200,000. Chief Information Security Officers earn €117,250, and patent attorneys average €104,750. About 31.6 percent of executives responsible for more than 100 staff draw six-figure incomes.
The government under Chancellor Merz and Finance Minister Klingbeil is pushing a tax reform that adjusts child benefit and child tax allowances. The Institute of the German Economy (IW) criticises the package, arguing its approximately €10 billion yearly relief fails to fully compensate for cold progression. According to the IW, a childless single earning €60,000 gross will actually lose purchasing power after inflation.
Additional strain comes from rising social contributions. Pension insurance contributions are set to hit 19.9 percent by 2028. A finance economist at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg calculated that a childless single with a €9,000 monthly gross salary would face a net annual loss of €904. A couple with two children and each earning €7,000 gross per month would lose €1,045 net in 2028.
Meanwhile, the SPD via party secretary Klüssendorf is demanding broader changes: an inheritance tax reform featuring a lifetime exemption of €1 million, and the reintroduction of a 1 percent wealth tax on assets above €100 million. Such measures could generate extra revenue estimated at €5 billion to €14 billion annually.
Economists warn that the outflow of high earners accelerates an already critical skilled-labour shortage. Germany’s working-age population is projected to shrink by three to four million people by 2030.
Separate data from the Berlin-Brandenburg statistics office for April 2025 shows gross hourly wages rose: Berlin averaged €27.42 (up from €26.34 a year earlier), and Brandenburg €22.66 (up from €21.71). But inequality persists — in the highest hourly segment (€65 and above), men dominate, while women are more concentrated in the €21–€31 range.
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