In Germany, women earn almost a fifth less than their male colleagues.
Last year they received an average of 20.05 euros per hour and thus 4.31 euros or 18 percent less than men (24.36 euros), as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday.
Due to a changed methodology, the development cannot be compared directly with previous years.
In a long-term comparison, however, the gender-specific pay gap (“gender pay gap”) has fallen: At the beginning of the survey in 2006, it was still 23 percent.
In East Germany, the difference in earnings is currently seven percent, well below the 19 percent in the West.
According to the information, the differences are mainly due to the fact that women work more often than men in sectors, professions and requirement levels in which the pay is lower.
"On the other hand, women work part-time more often, which is also associated with lower average gross hourly earnings," according to the statisticians.
These factors explained a total of 63 percent of the wage gap.
The remaining 37 percent "cannot be explained by the features available in the estimation model," it said.
Even with comparable qualifications, work and employment history, there is still a difference in earnings: this adjusted “gender pay gap” is estimated at seven percent.
"However, it can be assumed that the differences would be smaller if more information about wage-relevant influencing factors were available for the analysis - such as information on career breaks due to pregnancy, the birth of children or caring for relatives," according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The adjusted "gender pay gap" is therefore "to be understood as an 'upper limit' for earnings discrimination".