Cost of living in 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.

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.