What Does the Average Person in Germany Look Like?

What does life really look like for the average person in Germany today? How old are they? Where do they live, and with whom? What do they earn, how much do they work, and when do they retire?

To answer these questions, Germany’s statistics office, Destatis, has pieced together a detailed snapshot based on millions of data points. The result is a rare, almost intimate look at the typical life course in one of Europe’s largest economies — from moving out of your parents’ house to earning your first paycheck, starting a family, and eventually retiring.

While no single person fits this profile exactly, it helps paint a broad, fascinating picture of life in Germany at the end of 2024 — how people live, work, love, and age. And importantly, it reminds us how averages can sometimes hide as much as they reveal.

The average person Germany is 44.9 years old at the end of 2024, lives with one other person, and works full time for an average gross monthly wage of €4,634. Germany’s statistics office Destatis has released a consolidated portrait that gathers official indicators on age, housing, income, family size, education phases and retirement. The dataset also highlights consistent differences between women and men and explains why median values often describe earnings better than simple averages.

Age and life expectancy of the average person Germany

Women in Germany are on average 46.2 years old, men 43.5 years. The gap reflects higher female life expectancy: a girl born in 2024 can expect to live 83.5 years, while a boy’s life expectancy is 78.9 years. This demographic structure shapes public spending, the labour market and pension planning and is central to understanding the average person Germany in 2025.

Household size and family composition

Across all household types, two people share the typical home. If the snapshot focuses on parent–child households, the average family size is 3.4 members. This distinction matters for policy because family statistics exclude single households and shared flats, whereas the overall household figure captures everything from studio flats to multigenerational homes.

Housing: space and rent

The standard apartment for the average person Germany measures 94.4 square metres. The average net cold rent is €7.28 per square metre. These figures come from the 2022 census of buildings and dwellings and provide a structural baseline for debates on housing supply, urban density and affordability in regions with rising demand.

Pay levels: average versus median

Full‑time employees earned on average €4,634 gross in April 2024, excluding one‑off payments. Men earned €4,830, women €4,214. Because very high salaries push up the mean, Destatis also reports the median: €3,978 gross for full‑time work. The median for women is €3,777, for men €4,077. Using both mean and median makes the earnings picture of the average person Germany clearer and limits distortion from outliers.

Working time in full‑time and part‑time jobs

A full‑time average worker performs 40.2 hours per week. Broken down by sex, women work 39.2 hours and men 40.7 hours in full‑time roles. Part‑time averages 21.8 weekly hours overall, with women at 22.2 hours and men at 20.5 hours. These patterns influence lifetime income paths, pension accrual and the observed gender differences in pay.

Height, weight and other physical attributes

The consolidated profile includes anthropometric data: the average height is 1.73 metres and the average weight 77.7 kilograms. Men measure 1.79 metres and 85.8 kilograms, women 1.66 metres and 69.2 kilograms. Such indicators are routinely tracked in health statistics because they correlate with morbidity risks and healthcare demand over the life course.

Key life stages: leaving home, marriage and first child

People in Germany leave the parental home at an average age of 23.9 years. Women move out earlier at 23.1 years; men at 24.6 years. The average age at first marriage is 32.9 for women and 35.3 for men. The first child arrives on average at 30.4 years for mothers and 33.3 years for fathers. These timings shape childcare needs, housing decisions and labour‑market participation.

Retirement age and years on pension

Retirement starts on average at 64.7 years. The average duration of pension receipt is 21.7 years. Women draw pensions for about 23.2 years, men for 20.1 years. Combined with an ageing population, these values explain why social insurance reform features prominently in economic debates and why long‑term financing of the system is a key determinant of living standards for the average person Germany.

Why the “average person” is only a guide

Destatis stresses that averages are helpful signals but can hide wide spreads. In earnings, for example, a small number of very high incomes lifts the mean, while the median splits the workforce into two equal halves and often describes the typical case better. The new Special Page on the average person Germany therefore pairs averages and medians where possible and flags preliminary microcensus results for 2024 that will be refined as end results are validated against the 2022 census framework.

Method and sources behind the profile

The profile draws population and average‑age data from the official population update as of 31 December 2024. Earnings and hours come from the April 2024 wage statistics; family size and household structures from the 2024 microcensus (first results); housing metrics from the 2022 census of buildings and dwellings. Destatis aggregates these streams to present a single, accessible reference for residents, policymakers, researchers and media.