8.4 Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
Content and Development of the Indicator
The indicator represents the inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. In 2024, it amounted to 42,583 euros per capita, which was 0.5 % below the previous year's value. Between 1991 and 2024, the inflation-adjusted GDP per capita increased by a total of 40.0 %.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline in the inflation-adjusted GDP per capita of 4.2 %. An even sharper drop occurred only in 2009, as a result of the global financial and economic crisis, with a decrease of 5.2 %.
Due to the lack of a uniform definition of adequate and sustained economic growth, only the average annual change over the last five years can be used as a reference. This was 0.3 % and thus indicates a long-term negative trend of the indicator.
At the level of the Bundesländer, the picture in 2023 was as follows: Sachsen-Anhalt recorded the lowest real GDP per capita at 27,163 euros, while Hamburg recorded the highest at 61,590 euros.
Background on the Calculation
GDP measures the total economic output produced within a country during a reporting period. It includes both market-traded and government-provided goods and services. Residents are defined as all persons who have their permanent place of residence in Germany.
The calculation is based on the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA), which mandates the concepts and methods of the national accounts (VGR). The national accounts constitute an integrated accounting framework representing economic activity over a specific period. The results are consistently determined within a closed accounting system and presented in tabular form. GDP is the central indicator of the national accounts.
The population figures used for calculating the indicator are the average population numbers, extrapolated and updated from the 2011 census by the Federal Statistical Office.
Limitations of GDP
GDP primarily functions as a production and income indicator. For a comprehensive measure of welfare, supplementary indicators are necessary, such as those from the Environmental Economic Accounts (UGR), which represent interactions between the economy and the environment. As a single figure, GDP naturally does not provide information about the distribution of income and wealth among different population groups.
Changes in stock variables – with the exception of the capital stock, which is accounted for through investments and depreciation – are not captured in GDP. Key economic variables such as the stocks and quality of human capital (e.g., education, health), social capital (e.g., security, integration), and natural capital (e.g., resources, ecosystems) are also excluded from GDP.
Therefore, it is not possible to assess whether GDP growth has contributed to capital maintenance in a comprehensive sense. Accordingly, no direct conclusions about the sustainability of economic growth can be drawn from GDP.
