France vs Germany

France

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (URSSAF micro-social, impots.gouv.fr barème, Service-Public) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.

Germany

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (EStG §32a and §10; SolZG §§3-4; SGB V §§240-243 with the BMG's announced average Zusatzbeitrag 2026 of 2.9%; SGB XI §55 and PBAV 2025; Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme = de-freelancer (Freiberufler, §18 EStG, no Gewerbesteuer) at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (net profit €54,000), steady state, reduced health-insurance rate (no Krankengeld), no compulsory pension insurance. Health + long-term care insurance as a voluntary statutory member: (14.0% + 2.9% average Zusatzbeitrag 2026 + 3.6% + 0.6% childless surcharge) = 21.1% × €54,000 (inside the €15,820 to €69,750 range) = €11,394.00 (health €9,126.00, care €2,268.00), fully deductible. Taxable income = 54,000 − 11,394.00 − 36 (Sonderausgaben-Pauschbetrag) = €42,570. §32a EStG 2026, zone 3: z = (42,570 − 17,799) / 10,000 = 2.4771; (173.10 × 2.4771 + 2,397) × 2.4771 + 1,034.87 = 8,034.62, rounded down to €8,034. Solidaritätszuschlag: €0 (income tax below the €20,350 Freigrenze). Levies = 11,394.00 + 8,034 = €19,428.00 of €60,000 = 32.38%. Of this, income tax is 13.4 points and health/care insurance 19.0 points. The company route (de-gmbh-owner) is not cheaper at this size: the GmbH pays 30.175% (Körperschaftsteuer 15% + Soli + Berlin Gewerbesteuer 410%) before the owner sees a euro, and the dividend then bears Abgeltungsteuer 26.375% and the health contributions.

Notes

The figure is a steady state for a resident below pension age: single, no children, no church tax, no other income. Three things drive it: (1) the health and care insurance is not a share of tax but a contribution of 21.1% of profit that the freelancer pays alone (no employer half), €11,394 of the €19,428; it is deductible, so it also lowers the income tax; (2) income tax is €8,034 (zone 3 of the 2026 tariff, marginal rate about 32.5% at this income); (3) the Solidaritätszuschlag starts only when the income tax passes €20,350, around taxable income €75,000. Variants at the same profile (statutory arithmetic): a freelancer whose IT activity the Finanzamt treats as a trade (de-sole-trader, Berlin Hebesatz 410%) pays €19,531.25 (32.6%), because the Gewerbesteuer (€4,233.25) is credited against the income tax with 4.0 × the Messbetrag, leaving €103.25 net; the same trade in Frankfurt costs €20,047.50 (33.4%), Hamburg €20,150.75 (33.6%), Cologne €20,202.38 (33.7%) and Munich €20,357.25 (33.9%) because their Hebesätze (460%, 470%, 475%, 490%) leave 2.1% to 3.15% of the profit above €24,500 uncredited. A freelancer with essentially one client and no employees is compulsorily insured in the statutory pension scheme (§2 Nr. 9 SGB VI; exempt for the first three years): 18.6% of profit, €10,044.00, deductible, raises the levies to €26,378.00 (44.0%) and buys pension rights. The GmbH with the owner as sole shareholder-director, no salary and all profit distributed pays €33,931.44 (56.6%) with the default Abgeltungsteuer, or €24,617.36 (41.0%) if the owner applies for the Teileinkünfteverfahren; paying the whole profit as salary brings it back to about the freelancer's burden before the GmbH's own costs, and the GmbH only saves tax when profit is left inside it. What the figure excludes: Kirchensteuer for church members (8% of the income tax in Bayern and Baden-Württemberg, 9% elsewhere, about €640 to €720 here), Krankengeld cover (general rate: about €342 more), private health insurance (risk-rated), the Zusatzbeitrag of the member's own Kasse (the 2.9% is the announced average; each 0.1 point is €54 a year before the tax saving), VAT (a pass-through; the Kleinunternehmerregelung exempts turnover up to €25,000 in the previous year and €100,000 in the current year, VAT only), splitting for couples and children. Freelancers pay no unemployment insurance and, unless they have one client, no compulsory pension contribution, so the figure buys less social cover than an employee's. From 2027 the tariff is due to change (BMF announcement of 2 July 2026: top rate from €70,600, 45% from €250,000, 47% above €280,000, higher Grundfreibetrag); the figure is 2026 only.

France

France-Visas — official visa wizard (no dedicated remote-work/digital-nomad visa; self-employment via Passeport Talent / profession libérale) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 14, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

France has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur) forbids any professional activity, so it does not fit an actively-earning remote worker. Non-EU self-employed freelancers use the 'entrepreneur/profession libérale' long-stay visa or the Passeport Talent (for qualifying founders/investors/highly-skilled). EU/EEA/Swiss citizens work and freelance freely with no permit. Classified 'long-stay-path'.

Germany

Service Berlin (Landesamt für Einwanderung) — Aufenthaltserlaubnis zur freiberuflichen Tätigkeit beantragen ↗

Official source

Data as of

Oct 23, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Notes

Germany has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa: the AufenthG chapter on residence for gainful employment (sections 18 to 21) lists the skilled-worker permits, the Blue Card, the ICT card, the experienced-professional permit of section 19c, the Opportunity Card (section 20a) and self-employment (section 21), and nothing for remote work. No official page was found that says so in so many words; the finding rests on that section list and on the Foreign Office's visa pages, which offer no such category. The nearest general route is the freelance permit of section 21(5) AufenthG, open to every non-EU nationality: it is discretionary, needs a profession under section 18(1) no. 1 EStG (software developers are not named there), a revenue forecast and fee contracts or at least 2 letters of intent (LEA Berlin), German health insurance, adequate old-age provision from age 45 (LEA Berlin: 1,612.53 EUR a month or 232,204 EUR assets since 1 July 2025), and the permit is issued for 1 to 3 years with a settlement permit earliest after 5 years. Citizens of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea and New Zealand may enter visa-free and apply inside Germany within 90 days (AufenthV section 41); all others apply for a D visa abroad (6 to 9 months at the London mission). Work may start only once the permit is issued. Owners of a business that is not a freelance profession use section 21(1), which needs an economic interest or regional need and secured financing. Other realistic ways in need a German counterpart: a Blue Card (50,700 EUR a year in 2026, 45,934.20 EUR reduced) or a section 18a/18b permit with a German employer, the section 19c(2) permit for IT specialists without a degree (45,630 EUR a year in 2026), or the Opportunity Card for a job search (1,091 EUR a month of funds, work limited to 20 hours a week, no self-employment). EU citizens need no permit, only an address registration within 2 weeks; Ukrainians under temporary protection (to 4 March 2028 per the BMI) may work and be self-employed. Classified 'freelance-permit' because a general freelance permit exists; 'long-stay-path' is arguable because the test is discretionary and a laptop worker with only foreign clients is not clearly covered by the stated conditions.

France

INSEE — La consommation des ménages en 2024 (Insee Première 2056, dépense de consommation finale par fonction COICOP) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.

Germany

Destatis (Federal Statistical Office of Germany) — Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS) 2023: private consumption expenditure of one-person households (Alleinlebende), by spending category (table 63221-33 of the Statistischer Bericht 63221) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2025

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

One-person households (Alleinlebende) spent €1,918 a month on private consumption in Destatis' Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 2023 (EVS; held every five years; 54,040 households recorded in 2023, 21,280 of them one-person households representing 17.0 million; table 63221-33 of the Statistischer Bericht, published 9 December 2025 and corrected 24 June 2026, which the page 'Struktur der Konsumausgaben nach dem Haushaltstyp 2023' repeats at group level). The 2023 wave is the newest full survey. Rent is removed: the line 'Wohnungsmieten und ähnliches' is €644 a month (33.6% of spending) and holds actual rents, the imputed rent of owner-occupiers and of households living rent-free, and, per Destatis' glossary of its Laufende Wirtschaftsrechnungen report, the cold operating costs (sewage, refuse and similar) that tenants pay with the rent; the table does not split those out, so they leave with the rent. Energy (€154) and dwelling maintenance (€19) stay. €1,918 − €644 = €1,274 a month at 2023 prices. Uplift to 2025 prices with the German HICP, all items, annual averages (Eurostat prc_hicp_aind, unit INX_A_AVG, 2015=100): 125.9 in 2023 → 131.9 in 2025, ×1.0477: €1,334.71 a month. × 1.1205 USD/EUR (ECB, 2026-10-22) = $1,495.55, shown as $1,496. The 14 remaining lines (Destatis spending categories, with housing reduced to energy and maintenance) are summed in cost-breakdown.

Notes

What the figure covers: Destatis' private consumption expenditure (Marktentnahmekonzept), which by its own definition holds no payments for direct taxes, insurance premiums, transfers to other households or organisations, or loan repayments (Destatis glossary 'private Konsumausgaben'). So the figure has no health-insurance contributions (statutory or private), no vehicle or other insurance, no motor-vehicle tax and no donations; its insurance-and-financial line is only €5 a month of fees. Out-of-pocket health spending (medicines, aids, services) is €61 a month. The Dutch and Austrian figures in this dataset are broader (the CBS measure carries insurance, taxes and donations), so the German figure is the narrower of the three. Water, sewage and refuse charges are not in the figure although the Dutch and Austrian ones keep them: in Eurostat's harmonised budget survey of 2020 (German data, Eurostat hbs_str_t224) water supply and other dwelling services were 45 per mille of one-adult households' consumption, about 15% of the rent-plus-dwelling-services block in that survey, which suggests something like $100 to $110 a month at 2025 prices would be added if they could be split out (an estimate from another survey with a wider scope, not used). One-person households include pensioners, and Destatis publishes no split by age in these tables; men living alone spend €1,939 and women €1,904 a month (EVS 2023). Cross-checks: (1) Destatis' annual Laufende Wirtschaftsrechnungen 2024 (a sub-sample of the EVS, one month of recording per household, self-employed households excluded; 12,415 households recorded, 4,688 of them one-person households) gives €2,042 for one-person households with €685 in the rent line; €1,357 lifted from 2024 to 2025 with the HICP (129.0 → 131.9, ×1.0225) is €1,387.51, or $1,555, 4% above the EVS-based figure. The EVS was preferred for its size and full coverage; the LWR 2024 is the newer year. (2) Lifting each EVS line with the German HICP of its own spending division instead of the all-items index (food ×1.050, alcohol and tobacco ×1.076, clothing ×1.037, energy ×0.947, furnishings ×1.003, health ×1.055, transport ×1.028, communication ×0.985, recreation ×1.044, education ×1.101, restaurants and hotels ×1.101, other ×1.121) gives a weighted uplift of ×1.0346 and $1,477, 1.2% lower. Energy prices fell by 5% between 2023 and 2025 while restaurant prices rose by 10%. Destatis redesigned the EVS in 2023 (new questionnaire, app-based recording), so comparison with earlier waves is limited. Destatis reports whole euros, so each line carries a rounding error of up to €0.5 a month before uplift.

France

Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB) ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.

Germany

Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k) ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Notes

2024: 694 intentional homicides, 0.83 per 100,000 (Eurostat, updated 2026-04-29; denominator the 83,456,045 residents on 1 January 2024, Eurostat demo_pjan). With 83 million residents each case moves the rate by about 0.001, so the series is steady: 2015 0.81 (655 cases), 2016 0.91 (747), 2017 0.89 (738), 2018 0.76 (632), 2019 0.71 (586), 2020 0.86 (719), 2021 0.76 (631), 2022 0.74 (614), 2023 0.80 (661). What the German figure counts: it equals, case for case in every year from 2015 to 2024, the Federal Criminal Police Office's (BKA) Police Crime Statistics (PKS, time series T01 of 8 April 2026) count of completed murder (section 211), manslaughter and killing on request (sections 212, 213, 216 of the Criminal Code) plus completed bodily injury resulting in death (sections 227, 231), which is how the ICCS definition treats 'serious assault leading to death': 2024 584 + 110 = 694, 2023 574 + 87 = 661. Attempts are not in the 0.83: Eurostat lists them separately (ICCS0102, 1,719 cases in 2024 = 2.06 per 100,000) and they equal the PKS attempts. The PKS headline 'Mord, Totschlag und Tötung auf Verlangen' (2,303 cases in 2024, about 2.8 per 100,000) includes those 1,719 attempts, and a figure of that kind is not a homicide rate. PKS is an output statistic: a case is counted when the police investigation closes and the file goes to the public prosecutor, and a later change of charge or an acquittal does not alter the count. Cross-check with the cause-of-death statistics (Destatis, Todesursachenstatistik, report 23211; deaths of the resident population with underlying cause ICD-10 X85-Y09 'Tätlicher Angriff'): 2023 329 deaths (0.39 per 100,000), 2024 400 (0.48), 2025 377 (0.45; 208 men, 169 women; report of 9 October 2026, which applies the cell-key method and so perturbs counts slightly). That is about 40% below the police count of 694 for 2024 (and below the 668 victims of completed murder and manslaughter in PKS table T91). The two sources count different things: Destatis counts deaths of residents by the underlying cause coded for the death, the police count offences recorded at the end of the investigation, including victims who were not residents. The reasons for the gap were not itemised by either office (we did not find a published reconciliation), so it is a difference of definition and coverage, not a revision. Not yet in Eurostat: PKS 2025 (BKA, April 2026) gives 612 completed murder and manslaughter cases plus 108 completed bodily-injury-resulting-in-death cases, 720 in all, which on Eurostat's 1 January 2025 population of 83,577,140 would be about 0.86 per 100,000 (SettleMetric arithmetic, not a published rate); the BKA says 79 of the 2025 murder cases belong to one Berlin series (a former palliative-care physician suspected of killing seriously ill patients), without which the figure would be about 0.77.

France

Curated from French mutuelle comparateur data (goodassur 48,082-quote July 2026 dataset; Selectra tariff study) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).

Notes

A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.

Germany

Curated from German private health insurers' published example premiums for a self-employed 35-year-old: Hallesche (NK.select S/L/XL 1200), HanseMerkur (Start Fit, Top Fit) and LKH (GesundheitsUpgrade Komfort); insurers' own pages, examples not binding quotes ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Oct 23, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

Market midpoint, the MEDIAN of six published monthly premiums for the health tariffs of a self-employed 35-year-old from three insurers, each read with curl on 2026-10-23 (the insurers' own pages; examples, not binding quotes, and no personal data was entered). Basis of every figure: the health-cover tariffs including the statutory 10% surcharge, without sickness pay (Krankentagegeld) and without the compulsory long-term care insurance, which is added in the notes. The six premiums (EUR a month): (1) Hallesche, tariff NK.select S 1200 (annual deductible EUR 1,200), age 35: 331.73; (2) HanseMerkur, tariff Start Fit (EUR 1,000 deductible), age 35: 346.75 = KVS3 256.61 + PSV 35.62 + EKV2 23.00 + statutory surcharge 31.52 (the published total of EUR 415.98 also holds the care insurance PVN 66.75 and a spa-stay daily allowance of 2.48); (3) Hallesche, NK.select L 1200, age 35: 526.57; (4) HanseMerkur, tariff Top Fit (EUR 1,000 deductible), age 35: 564.40 = KVT1000 452.47 + PSV 35.62 + ZY cancer scan 27.50 + surcharge 48.81 (published total EUR 631.15 with PVN 66.75); (5) LKH, tariff GesundheitsUpgrade Komfort (EUR 500 deductible), age 35, contract start 1 January 2027: 633.63 (the page says the 10% surcharge is already included; with sickness pay of EUR 115 a day, +90.16, and care insurance, +69.08, it shows EUR 792.87); (6) Hallesche, NK.select XL 1200, age 35: 636.00. The note under Hallesche's table says only that the example premiums include the statutory 10% surcharge; the page lists care insurance and sickness pay as separate products, so the examples are read as health cover only (the S figure is close to HanseMerkur's health-only EUR 346.75, which supports that reading). Sorted: 331.73, 346.75, 526.57, 564.40, 633.63, 636.00; median = (526.57 + 564.40) / 2 = EUR 545.49 a month = EUR 6,546 a year = $7,335 at 1 EUR = 1.1205 USD (ECB euro reference rate of 2026-10-22). Range: EUR 331.73 to EUR 636.00 a month = EUR 3,981 to EUR 7,632 a year = $4,460 to $8,552. Mean EUR 506.51 a month = $6,811 a year. Without the 2027-dated LKH example the median of the other five is EUR 526.57 a month = $7,080 a year; taking the median of the three insurers' own medians (HanseMerkur 455.58, Hallesche 526.57, LKH 633.63) gives the same EUR 526.57. URLs: https://www.hallesche.de/privatkunden/private-krankenversicherung/angestellte-und-selbststaendige ; https://www.hansemerkur.de/private-krankenversicherung/pkv-kosten ; https://www.lkh.de/pkv-selbststaendige . All three give the age as 35; none of the pages carries a date for the premiums, except that LKH's example starts on 1 January 2027 and Hallesche's page cites the 2026 compulsory-insurance limit of EUR 77,400. Not used in the median (age 30, basis checked): Continentale, page 'Stand 04.2026', age 30, COMFORT 437.36 + SP2 32.18 = EUR 469.54 and PREMIUM 581.89 + SP1 43.37 = EUR 625.26 (surcharge included; care insurance 61.85 and option tariff 6.00 excluded; https://www.continentale.de/pkv-fuer-selbstaendige); Allianz, Internet Archive capture of 2025-11-26 ('Stand 2025'), age 30, Plus 70 with Zahn 75 EUR 505.60 + surcharge 50.56 = EUR 556.16 (care insurance 60.25 and sickness pay 90.16 excluded; the live page answers curl with HTTP 403 and no 2026 capture exists). Rejected: Signal Iduna (article of 28 July 2026, ages 30 and 40, prices include sickness pay that is not itemised), ottonova (age 32, basis unclear), Muenchener Verein ('ab' price at age 30, basis not stated); the pages of Debeka, DKV, Barmenia/Gothaer, AXA, Concordia, ARAG and HUK that were fetched give no age-35 example.

Notes

WHY THE PRIVATE MARKET AND NOT THE STATUTORY SYSTEM. The statutory route (GKV) is not open to a newly arrived freelancer in general. SGB V section 9(1) no. 1 lets people join voluntarily who left compulsory insurance after being insured at least 24 months in the last five years or 12 months without a break directly before (other numbers of section 9(1) cover family insurance, first employment above the earnings limit, severely disabled persons, returning employees, foreigners with a research residence permit under section 18d AufenthG within three months of arrival, late repatriates and former soldiers on time). Section 5(5) excludes the full-time self-employed from compulsory insurance under section 5(1) nos. 1 and 5 to 12, and the catch-all compulsory cover in section 5(1) no. 13 does not take people who were never insured and belong to that group. Section 5(11) says that foreigners who are not nationals of an EU state, an EEA state or Switzerland come under no. 13 only if they hold a settlement permit or a residence permit valid for more than twelve months for which no duty to secure their livelihood under section 5(1) no. 1 AufenthG applies (the statute text says 'wenn sie eine Niederlassungserlaubnis oder eine Aufenthaltserlaubnis mit einer Befristung auf mehr als zwölf Monate ... besitzen und für die Erteilung dieser Aufenthaltstitel keine Verpflichtung zur Sicherung des Lebensunterhalts ... besteht'). Section 5(1) no. 1 AufenthG makes secured livelihood a general condition of residence titles ('in der Regel') and section 21 AufenthG (residence permit for self-employment) does not waive it in the paragraphs read; on that reading a non-EU freelancer is outside compulsory cover and, without an earlier statutory insurance record, cannot join voluntarily, so in practice he buys private cover. The same section 5(11) says that nationals of other EU or EEA states and Swiss nationals are not caught by no. 13 where the condition for residence in Germany is health insurance under section 4 of the Freizügigkeitsgesetz/EU. Whether insurance periods in another EU state count for section 9(1) no. 1 was not checked at an official source, so no claim is made. Every resident must hold health insurance with at least outpatient and inpatient cover and a deductible effect of at most EUR 5,000 a year (section 193(3) VVG, which excludes people who are statutorily insured). WHAT A MEMBER OF THE STATUTORY SYSTEM PAYS (not this value). A childless self-employed voluntary member with the freelancer profile of EUR 54,000 net profit (revenue 60,000 less 10%) pays at 2026 rates 16.9% (reduced rate 14.0% plus the 2.9% average additional contribution, BMG) for health insurance = EUR 9,126 and 4.2% for long-term care (3.6% plus the 0.6-point childless surcharge) = EUR 2,268, in total EUR 11,394 a year = $12,767 (EUR 949.50 a month). The BMG table gives the bounds: a minimum assessment base of EUR 1,318.33 a month (one third of the 2026 reference amount of EUR 3,955, section 240(4) SGB V), i.e. EUR 222.80 for health insurance plus EUR 55.37 for care = EUR 3,338 a year = $3,740, and a ceiling of EUR 982.31 for health insurance plus EUR 244.13 for care = EUR 14,717 a year = $16,491. A parent pays 3.6% for care (EUR 11,070 = $12,404); if the fund levies the average additional contribution actually charged, 3.13% on 1 April 2026 (BMG), the total is EUR 11,518 ($12,906). Sources: BMG contributions page (Stand 3 September 2026), SGB V sections 223, 240, 241, 243, SGB XI section 55, BMG care-insurance page (Stand 14 September 2026), BMG notice of the average additional contribution (BAnz AT 10.11.2025 B7), Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026. The freelancer tax schemes model this statutory contribution as a component of the tax burden; the private premium in this value is not part of that component and the two must not be added. PRIVATE POLICY LIMITS AND INDUSTRY FIGURES. By law the Basistarif, which insurers must offer to listed groups (for example people without cover who were privately insured before or belong systematically to the private system) without risk surcharges or exclusions, may not cost more than the highest statutory contribution plus the average additional contribution, about EUR 1,018 a month from 1 January 2026 before care insurance (BMG, Stand 3 March 2026). The PKV-Verband, the private insurers' association (an industry source, not an official one), reports an average premium of EUR 536 a month for adults without civil-servant aid in 2025 ($7,207 a year) and says that nobody has to pay more than the statutory maximum because of the right to the Basistarif; its chart of average premiums by age, without data labels, puts the average of normal-tariff members aged 35 at roughly EUR 500 to EUR 530 (read by eye). These are portfolio averages across all entry ages and tariffs, not new-entrant quotes, and fit the median above. COMPULSORY CARE INSURANCE IS EXTRA. A privately insured person must also take the private long-term care insurance: EUR 66.75 (HanseMerkur) and EUR 69.08 (LKH) a month at age 35, EUR 61.85 (Continentale) at age 30. With about EUR 68 on top, the median becomes about EUR 613 a month = EUR 7,361 a year = $8,248; this all-in figure is the one to compare with the statutory EUR 11,394. Sickness pay for the self-employed is a separate product (LKH EUR 90.16 a month for EUR 115 a day from day 22; Allianz EUR 90.16 for EUR 140 a day from day 43) and is not in the value. PREMIUMS ARE RISK-RATED AND RISE WITH AGE. A private premium depends on the entry age and the state of health at the start, not on income (PKV-Verband; Inter's page says that a health check is required and that pre-existing conditions can lead to risk surcharges or exclusion). HanseMerkur's own table for its Start Fit health tariff shows the age effect: EUR 199.10 at 25, EUR 256.61 at 35 and EUR 338.86 at 45 a month. The value is for a healthy applicant at 35; a person with pre-existing conditions would pay more or be refused. The statutory 10% surcharge is paid until age 60 (PKV-Verband). Premiums rise over time with medical costs: the PKV-Verband says that on 1 January 2027 premiums have to rise for about 53% of the privately insured, by 13.4% on average for them (pkv.de, read 2026-10-23), so the figures above, which are 2026 prices except LKH's 2027 start, will age. HOW THIN THE EVIDENCE IS. Three insurers, six tariffs, all marketing examples without a binding quote; two of the three pages carry no date for the figures; the deductibles differ (EUR 500, 1,000 and 1,200 a year) although the criterion assumes a small one; the cover differs by tariff and the examples are not ranked by quality; LKH's example is dated 2027. The spread is wide (EUR 332 to EUR 636) and the median moves little (EUR 526.57 to EUR 545.49) with the choice of aggregation. A full-cover figure for a 35-year-old from a regulator or an independent public tariff comparison was not found. Not read: quote engines (they ask for personal data), Debeka, DKV, Barmenia/Gothaer, AXA and the other insurers whose pages show no age-35 example; the unit of the criterion assumes about $100k of cover, and German full-cover tariffs have no benefit ceiling. The value is due for re-reading after the January 2027 premium adjustments.

France

impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.

Germany

Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz (KMAG, Act of 27 December 2024, BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 438), §§ 1, 3 and 50, implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA); Einkommensteuergesetz § 23 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 and (3) sentence 5; BMF letter of 6 March 2025 on the income tax treatment of crypto-assets ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Notes

Holding, buying, selling and cashing out crypto-assets are legal for private persons in Germany, and the rules are written down rather than improvised. REGULATION. Germany implements the EU's MiCA regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, applicable to crypto-asset service providers since 30 December 2024) through the Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz (KMAG), Article 1 of the Act of 27 December 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 438; text as last amended on 25 March 2026, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 81). Under § 3(1) KMAG the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is the competent authority within the meaning of Article 93(1) of MiCA; the Deutsche Bundesbank is the competent body for the tasks given to it in § 6 (ongoing supervision of the institutions, working under BaFin's guidelines). The law governs institutions (issuers of asset-referenced and e-money tokens, and crypto-asset service providers) and trading venues; § 1(2) limits its scope to crypto-assets as MiCA defines them. It contains no provision that bars a private person from buying, holding or selling crypto-assets; the offences in § 46(1) nos. 1 to 6 concern unlicensed offering of asset-referenced or e-money tokens, unlicensed provision of crypto-asset services, and insider dealing and market manipulation. TRANSITIONAL PERIOD. MiCA Article 143(3) lets service providers that were lawfully active before 30 December 2024 continue until 1 July 2026 (or until an authorisation decision, whichever is sooner), and lets Member States shorten or drop this period where their earlier national rules were less strict (read in the Official Journal text, via an Internet Archive capture of 5 June 2026 of EUR-Lex, which answered the machine used with an empty bot-check page). Germany shortened it: § 50 KMAG lets firms holding a KWG, WpIG or ZAG licence that on 29 December 2024 lawfully provided crypto activities continue under the old law, but the continuing permission lapses at the latest at the end of 31 December 2025 (§ 50(2) no. 3), earlier on the final decision on their MiCA authorisation, and credit institutions and investment firms could use a simplified authorisation procedure (§ 50(3)). BaFin confirms in its notice of 8 July 2026 that Germany had shortened MiCA's transitional period to 31 December 2025; the same notice and BaFin's article of 25 August 2026 say that the EU-wide transitional period ended on 1 July 2026 without extension, so since 1 July 2026 only providers with a MiCA authorisation may offer crypto-asset services in the EU. TAX CONTEXT, not a criterion input: gains on crypto-assets held as private assets are taxable as private sales transactions only if the period between purchase and sale is one year or less (§ 23(1) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG; BMF letter of 6 March 2025, which replaces the letter of 10 May 2022, paragraph 53); after more than one year the gain is tax-free; and if all private-sale gains of the calendar year total less than EUR 1,000 they are tax-free as well (§ 23(3) sentence 5 EStG; an all-or-nothing limit, not an allowance). The one-year clock restarts after each exchange of one crypto-asset for another (paragraph 55 of the letter). Income from staking and lending is not covered by this exemption: it is taxed as other income under § 22 no. 3 EStG (paragraphs 48 and 65 of the letter), which is free of tax only if all such income together stays below EUR 256 a year (§ 22 no. 3 sentence 2 EStG, quoted in paragraph 45 of the letter), and frequent buying and selling can be treated as a commercial activity (paragraph 52). From 2026 crypto-asset service providers must collect tax data on users and report transactions to the Federal Central Tax Office under the Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenz-Gesetz (KStTG, Act of 22 December 2025, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 352, in force 24 December 2025; first report due 31 July 2027 for calendar year 2026 under § 9(1) and the application rule that duties apply first for 2026). CLASSIFICATION. Banded 'legal-friendly' because the statute gives private holders a clear, explicit exemption after a one-year holding period, the same logic as Portugal (exempt after 365 days) and Czechia (time test) in this dataset; Austria (flat 27.5%) and the Netherlands (box 3) are 'legal-regulated'. It is a borderline call: the exemption is not unconditional (short-term gains are taxed at the personal income tax rate, exchanges restart the clock, active trading can become a business) and the licensing regime is the same as everywhere in the EU, so a stricter reading would give 'legal-regulated'. Not read: BaFin's consumer pages on individual crypto purchases, and the BMF letter's paragraph numbers were taken from the courtesy translation of 6 March 2025 (the German original was downloaded too; the English translation is non-binding).

France

Service-Public / economie.gouv.fr — Paiement en espèces (plafond); Code monétaire et financier art. D112-3 ↗

Official source

Data as of

Sep 1, 2015

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.

Germany

Composite — euro-area free movement of capital + Geldwäschegesetz (GwG) §§ 10 and 16a (no cash-payment cap; due-diligence thresholds; cash ban in real-estate purchases) + Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 art. 80 + zoll.de cash-declaration rules (Regulation (EU) 2018/1672) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

Composite, each input read at its source on 2026-10-23. Germany is a euro-area member of the EU, so capital moves freely under EU law (free movement of capital, Article 63 TFEU) and no currency or capital controls apply. The restrictions on personal money flows found: (1) Cash payments. The Geldwäschegesetz (GwG, text as last amended by the Act of 29 June 2026, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 197) contains no ceiling on cash payments, either to businesses or between private persons, and the Europäisches Verbraucherzentrum Deutschland (a consumer-advice centre of the European Consumer Centres Network, not an authority) states in its overview updated on 14 September 2026 that there is no statutory cash payment limit in Germany. What the GwG does is switch on customer due diligence (identification of the customer, beneficial owner and purpose) for traders in goods (Güterhändler, § 2(1) no. 16, § 10(6a)): for transactions in art of EUR 10,000 or more whatever the means of payment; for precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) when they pay or accept cash of EUR 2,000 or more; and for other goods when they pay or accept cash of EUR 10,000 or more. The general threshold for an occasional transaction outside a business relationship is EUR 15,000 (§ 10(3) no. 2 b), and EUR 1,000 for money transfers and crypto-asset transfers. (2) Real estate. Since 1 April 2023 (§ 59(11) GwG), § 16a GwG forbids paying the price for a purchase or exchange of German real estate, or of shares in a company that owns German real estate, in cash, crypto-assets, gold, platinum or gem stones: a price paid that way is recoverable as unjust enrichment, and the notary may not file the transfer of ownership until the parties prove the price was paid by other means (the notary's checks do not apply to a price up to EUR 10,000 or one paid through the notary's escrow account, § 16a(5)). Ordinary bank transfers are unaffected. (3) The EU anti-money-laundering regulation, article 80(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, caps cash payments made or accepted by persons trading in goods or providing services at EUR 10,000 from 10 July 2027 (the regulation applies from that date), exempts payments between natural persons not acting in a professional capacity and payments at the premises of banks and payment institutions (art. 80(4)), and lets Member States adopt lower limits (art. 80(2)) or keep existing lower ones (art. 80(3)); article 19(4) sets the identification threshold for an occasional cash transaction at EUR 3,000 unless a national limit of EUR 3,000 or less applies. Germany has no lower national limit that would stay in force under art. 80(3), and I found no German bill that would set a lower one: the Federal Ministry of Finance's draft of 5 August 2026 on a cash-register duty (Kassenpflicht) is about electronic recording of takings, not a payment limit. (4) Cash of EUR 10,000 or more brought into Germany from a non-EU country, or taken out to one, must be declared to German Customs (Zoll; Regulation (EU) 2018/1672); within the EU, cash and equivalent means of payment (including gold bars and coins, precious stones and savings books) of EUR 10,000 or more must be declared orally to Customs on request, on entry to and exit from Germany, and Customs may ask about origin, beneficial owner and purpose even below EUR 10,000 (zoll.de; failing to declare when asked is an administrative offence punishable by a fine of up to EUR 1 million). Carrying cash within the EU is not otherwise limited. (5) Cross-border payment reporting: residents must report payments to or from non-residents of more than EUR 50,000 to the Bundesbank for balance-of-payments statistics (§ 67 AWV; threshold raised from EUR 12,500 on 1 January 2025; transfers between one's own accounts are not reportable; private persons can report a one-off payment by e-mail or phone). It is a statistical duty, not an approval or a limit. (6) Banking access: every consumer lawfully resident in the EU, including persons without a fixed address, has a right to a basic payment account at a German bank that offers consumer accounts, which must offer the contract within ten business days (§ 31 ZKG). These are anti-money-laundering and statistics rules, not limits on moving one's own money by bank transfer. Classified 'low', like the Netherlands, Latvia, Malta, France and Spain.

Notes

Germany is at the permissive end of the euro area on cash: it has no payment cap at all in 2026 (by the figures already recorded in this dataset: the Netherlands EUR 3,000 for goods since 1 January 2026, Latvia EUR 7,200, France and Spain EUR 1,000), and the first cap will be the EU-wide EUR 10,000 from 10 July 2027. The one hard cash prohibition is the real-estate rule, which binds the parties to a property purchase, not shopping or private sales. Not found: an official German government or Bundesbank page stating in so many words that no cash limit exists (the claim rests on the full GwG text, which has none, and on the consumer-centre overview); the Bundesbank pages found concern payment statistics. Not read: any German draft act implementing the AMLR in full, the Bundesbank's guidance on the AWV reporting rule beyond the private-persons page, and German tax reporting duties for residents' foreign accounts (banks report to the tax authorities under the automatic exchange of financial account information; not checked at an official source here). A draft of the Ministry of Finance on the fight against financial crime (named in the Bundestag lobby register, comments of 27 March 2026) was seen only as a title and is not an input.

France

La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2025

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.

Germany

Bundesnetzagentur Parcels Market Report 2024 (market data for 2023, last revised March 2025) with DHL (Deutsche Post), Hermes, DPD and GLS official network and delivery pages (composite) ↗

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Oct 23, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

Classified from the regulator's report and the carriers' own pages, read on 2026-10-23. Bundesnetzagentur (the national regulator; figures are for 2023 with a forecast for 2024): six providers, Amazon, DPD, Deutsche Post DHL, GLS, Hermes and UPS, handle about 98% of parcels, Deutsche Post DHL has more than 40% of volume, 4.36 billion parcels were handled in 2023 (about 89% inside Germany), parcel transit times 'are normally between 24 and 72 hours but are not guaranteed', there are more than 60,000 places to drop off and pick up parcels (post offices, parcel shops, parcel lockers) and around 17,000 parcel lockers with more than 1.2 million compartments. DHL, the national operator: its page for private senders gives 'with the recipient in 1-2 working days (normally)' for a Paket, about 4 working days for a Paeckchen, the next working day for the paid express option, a bookable on-the-day service (the sender picks a delivery day from Monday to Saturday, EUR 0.99), shipment tracking and live tracking, and more than 19,000 Packstations and Poststations (self-service lockers usable regardless of opening hours) besides branches and parcel shops as pick-up points. Hermes: more than 17,000 PaketShops, couriers out Monday to Saturday between 8:00 and 20:00 without a time window, tracking included in the price, 'over 96%' of parcels delivered on the first attempt in the business year 2025/2026 (Hermes's own figure), average transit time of 1.16 days (its own figure for business customers, from a television-station test), parcels kept 7 working days in a PaketShop. DPD: 1 to 2 working days within Germany, a 2-hour arrival window on the day (Predict) and live tracking down to 30 minutes, more than 10,000 parcel shops, 7 days to collect at a shop and 3 days at a locker. GLS: more than 11,000 parcel shops and lockers (page capture of 2026-10-15), a 24-hour transit claim for its BusinessParcel with a bookable next-working-day guarantee (Guaranteed24Service, not on Saturdays) and a same-evening service from 17:30 to 22:00. DPD and GLS pool their networks (each says it has more than 10,000 points, most usable by both, in a GLS release of 10 December 2025) and since 16 March 2026 run a joint open locker brand, inboxx: 150 locations were live and 500 more under construction on 10 December 2025, with a target of up to 6,000 lockers by the end of 2027. A one- to two-day standard at the national operator and the two largest private carriers, tracking at every carrier, and several shop and locker networks side by side → 'excellent'.

Notes

Three caveats. (1) 'Next day' is a typical time, not a promise: the regulator says transit times are not guaranteed, DHL says 'normally' 1 to 2 working days, and only bookable options (DHL Express, GLS Guaranteed24Service) guarantee the next working day. (2) The regulator's figures are for 2023; the carriers' own counts are newer but are marketing figures that differ from page to page (GLS shows more than 9,000 shop and locker points on a page captured on 2026-06-29 and more than 11,000 on 2026-10-15; DPD's own pages give about 8,000 points in October 2024, more than 9,000 in March 2025 and more than 10,000 now; Hermes says more than 17,000 shops on its newsroom page and its price list). (3) Hermes states that its couriers try delivery on three consecutive working days (FAQ) and up to four times (business page); the two do not agree. Not covered: Amazon's own delivery (second-largest by volume per the regulator), UPS (the page read gives no count of its Access Points in Germany), the DHL Group press releases of September and October 2026 on branch and locker counts (group.dhl.com did not answer curl or WebFetch within the time limit), and the roughly 17,000 lockers' split by operator. gls-pakete.de answers curl with HTTP 403, so GLS pages were read in Internet Archive captures (2026-07-26 and 2026-10-15) and its CashService glossary in a capture of 2025-09-09.

France

EU single market (free movement of goods) + European Commission removal of the €150 duty-free import threshold (from 1 July 2026) ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market — most European cross-border parcels arrive like domestic ones). For non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and from 1 July 2026 applies a temporary flat customs duty per item on ≤€150 consignments (VAT already collected at checkout via IOSS since 2021). Predictable but no longer duty-free — the same EU regime as other member states.

Germany

German Customs (Zoll) — Internetbestellungen (EUR 3 flat duty per product category on consignments up to EUR 150 from 1 July 2026; Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382) and Generalzolldirektion press release of 29 June 2026 ↗

Official source

Data as of

Jul 1, 2026

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Notes

Parcels from the EU single market arrive without customs. Every consignment from outside the EU is cleared. German Customs states that the duty exemption for consignments up to EUR 150 lapsed on 1 July 2026 and that since then a flat duty of EUR 3 is charged for each product category in a consignment of up to EUR 150 sold at a distance from a non-EU country to a consumer (zoll.de: four pairs of socks EUR 3; four pairs of socks, a soft toy and a phone charging cable EUR 9); it also applies to orders placed before 1 July 2026 if the goods are imported afterwards; other goods pay the normal tariff rate, and the European Commission page of 8 June 2026 (updated 20 July 2026) says the flat duty runs until 1 July 2028, counts per item defined by tariff classification and not by quantity, and rests on Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382. German import VAT of 19% or 7% is charged on top, and there is no VAT-free value limit (Deutsche Post: none since 1 July 2021; gifts between private persons up to EUR 45 and import VAT below EUR 1 are not collected). When the non-EU seller is registered for the IOSS scheme the VAT is collected at checkout and, according to Deutsche Post and DHL, the duty must from 1 July 2026 be paid by the sender as well; otherwise the carrier clears the parcel, advances the duties and, as a rule, collects them on delivery (Customs). A recipient can also declare a consignment of up to EUR 150 himself through the Customs portal (IPK, a declaration type of ATLAS-IMPOST). Carriers charge for the service: Deutsche Post (DHL Paket) charges a disbursement fee (Auslagepauschale) of EUR 7.50 including VAT whenever it advances import duties, whatever the value of the goods; it is not charged when no duty is due or when the recipient clears the parcel himself at an inland customs office; DHL Express, which clears for the recipient, charges 2% of the advanced duties, at least EUR 15 plus VAT per shipment, for using its deferment account when the recipient pays by transfer (terms edition of January 2025, not read in a newer edition). Union handling fee: German Customs says 'as things stand' a clearance fee (Abfertigungspauschale, the Union handling fee) of EUR 2 per product category will be added from 1 November 2026 whatever the value of the goods (zoll.de example: EUR 3 duty plus EUR 2 for four pairs of socks), while the Commission page of 20 July 2026 still describes the fee as proposed, with amount and date to be set in autumn 2026; both are recorded, neither was confirmed in a regulation text. Carriers: DHL (Deutsche Post and DHL Express), DPD (part of Geopost, in more than 50 countries) and GLS (about 40 countries) deliver across borders into Germany, and UPS runs access points in Germany (Internet Archive capture of 22 July 2026 of its page); FedEx and the customs clearance times were not checked. Classified 'minor-friction', like the other EU members in this dataset: carriers present and clearance routine, but no duty-free threshold any more, a per-category duty and a carrier fee on top. Not read: the Regulation text itself, the DHL Group notice 'new customs rules' (dhl.com did not answer curl), and any official figure for clearance times.

France

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Method

Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.

Notes

France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.

Germany

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Germany ↗

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Method

Median of the 344 daily country-median download values (field download_MED) for DE in 2023 (29,785,372 download tests, the sum of dl_samples_day; daily medians ranged 26.7-50.0 Mbps). With an even number of days the median is the mean of the two middle days, 41.854 and 41.865 Mbps. 2023 is the year used across the dataset. The same calculation on the same files gives the values already in the Dutch and Austrian entries (NL 83.14 Mbps over 343 days, 2,635,642 tests; AT 31.54 over 343 days, 2,777,725 tests), which is how the method was checked.

Notes

M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre or cable speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. Monthly medians of the daily values ran from 40.5 Mbps (December) to 42.6 Mbps (March). M-Lab's public file has no values for 21 days of 2023 (29 January to 15 February except 10 February, 24 April, 30 July and 30-31 December), so the median covers 344 of 365 days. The German test count is about ten times that of the Netherlands or Austria.

France

EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band) ↗

Research

Data as of

Nov 1, 2025

Verified

Jul 14, 2026

Notes

Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.

Germany

EF English Proficiency Index 2025 — Germany (rank 4/123, score 615, Very High band) ↗

Research

Data as of

Nov 1, 2025

Verified

Oct 23, 2026

Notes

Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Germany ranks 4th of 123 countries and regions with 615 points, inside EF's Very High band (600 and above), 17 points above its 2024 score (when it stood 10th, in the High band); the global average is 488. By skill: reading 623, listening 609, writing 564, speaking 521. EF's age groups: 622 for 31 to 40 years (the age of the profile), 648 for 21 to 25 and 649 for 26 to 30, 555 for 41 and over. Cities: Munich 641, Stuttgart 642, Cologne 649, Berlin 625, Frankfurt 624, Hamburg 622. EF's page for Germany also lists 131 as the number of countries in its history table for 2025, while its overview page says 123; the 123 used here is the overview figure. Eurostat's Adult Education Survey 2022 (self-reported and not English-specific; dataset edat_aes_l21, ages 25 to 64) shows 87.7% of adults know at least one foreign language, 16.6% know three or more and 12.3% know none, well behind the Netherlands (7.0% none, 40.2% three or more). Banded 'very-high', like the Netherlands (624), Austria (616), Portugal (612) and Poland (600), which all sit at or above EF's 600 line, although German is the language of public administration: the Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (section 23(1)) says 'Die Amtssprache ist deutsch', and an authority may demand a translation of documents submitted in another language (section 23(2)), so official dealings run in German by default. Doubt: EF's index is built from the results of adults who took its test (2.2 million in 2025, per EF's overview page), not from a sample of the whole population, and Eurostat's survey shows that one German adult in eight knows no foreign language at all, so English cannot be assumed outside cities, offices and the service sector; EF's own score decides the band.