Union membership

For the first time in more than 20 years, membership in the eight unions comprising the DGB, Germany’s main union confederation, grew last year. The increase was slight, a growth of just 0.4% from 5.64 million in 2022 to 5.67 million in 2023, but it is the first time that union membership has gone up since 2001.

Not all unions grew — for example, membership of Germany’s largest union, IG Metall, which primarily organises workers in metalworking industries like vehicle production, fell slightly from 2.15 million in 2022 to 2.14 million in 2023. But half the unions grew, particularly those in the service sector.

There was also a bigger increase in the number of women, who are still nevertheless unrepresented in German unions.