Overview
- Indian full-time employees posted a median gross monthly wage of €5,393 in 2024, ahead of Austrians (€5,322), US nationals (€5,307) and Irish workers (€5,233), according to the Institute of the German Economy.
- German nationals earned a median of €4,177, while the overall median for foreign workers was €3,204; the assessment covered nationalities with more than 5,000 full-time employees using Federal Employment Agency data.
- The institute ties the gap to occupational mix, noting Indians are heavily represented in MINT fields and that their employment in these roles has grown nearly ninefold since 2012 to more than 32,800.
- About one third of full-time Indian workers aged 25–44 are in MINT occupations, reflecting a student-to-workforce pipeline that has expanded in recent years.
- IW highlights broader innovation gains with patent applications by inventors of Indian origin up roughly twelvefold since 2000, and its expert Axel Plünnecke underscores skilled immigration as crucial for growth.