Status: 11/16/2022 12:26 p.m
The vast majority of employees in Germany with a collective agreement can look forward to a higher Christmas bonus this year. However, the high inflation can only partly compensate for this.
Most of the millions of employees in Germany with a collective agreement can count on a Christmas bonus this year, which is also higher than last year. On average, 2747 euros are transferred, as determined by the Federal Statistical Office. This is an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the previous year, which is however well below the inflation rate, which was 10.4 percent in October, the highest in over 70 years.
In eastern Germany, at 88.5 percent, slightly more employees receive a Christmas bonus than in western Germany, at 85.3 percent – the national average is 85.7 percent. On the other hand, the average claim in western Germany, at 2,768 euros, is six percent higher than in the east, at 2,611 euros.
Fewer recipients without a collective agreement
In most sectors, the value is well over 90 percent, and the differences between the individual sectors are quite significant. In the areas of “extraction of crude oil and natural gas” with 5504 euros and in the area of ”coking plant and mineral oil processing” with 5450 euros above average is paid. The lowest Christmas bonus is paid to employees in the area of ”placement and leasing of workers” with an average of 327 euros. It is also comparatively low in the “tobacco processing” area at 564 euros.
If employees without a collective agreement are also taken into account, then according to the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI), 54 percent of employees receive a Christmas bonus. “In view of historically high inflation rates, the Christmas bonus is more important than ever for many employees,” said the head of the WSI collective bargaining archive, Thorsten Schulten, recently. “It creates a buffer, at least in the short term, in order to be able to react to the increased cost of living.”