Halle Institute for Economic Research
5th Finance and Productivity (FINPRO) Conference, Tokyo FINPRO5, co-organised by the IMF, the University of Tokyo (CARF), IWH-CompNet, the University of Amsterdam and CEPR, will…
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IWH Alumni The IWH maintains contact with its former employees worldwide. We involve our alumni in our work and keep them informed, for example, with a newsletter. We also plan…
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Scientific Advisory Board As an association established and registered under German civil law the IWH is composed of different internal bodies through which it is led and…
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Research Articles Explore cutting-edge research based on CompNet’s micro-aggregated firm-level data and related analytical tools. These articles cover empirical and theoretical…
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Media Response Archive 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 December 2021 IWH: Ausblick auf Wirtschaftsjahr 2022 in Sachsen mit Bezug auf IWH-Prognose zu Ostdeutschland: "Warum Sachsens…
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Trade and Competitiveness
Trade and Competitiveness The investigation delves into the mechanisms through which productivity diffuses within Global Value Chains (GVC), assessing how national firms respond…
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Centre for Business and Productivity Dynamics
Centre for Business and Productivity Dynamics (IWH-CBPD) The Centre for Business and Productivity Dynamics (CBPD) was founded in January 2025 and works with policy and research…
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9th vintage
9th Vintage CompNet Dataset The CompNet dataset includes a set of micro-aggregated indicators to enhance policy and academic analysis on competitiveness and productivity. All the…
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IWH-DPE in a Nutshell
IWH-DPE in a Nutshell The IWH Doctoral Programme in Economics (IWH-DPE) is the unit that organises the education of doctoral students at the IWH in close cooperation with partner…
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The Distribution of National Income in Germany, 1992-2019
Stefan Bach, Charlotte Bartels, Theresa Neef
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 25,
2024
Abstract
This paper analyzes the distribution and composition of pre-tax national income in Germany since 1992, combining personal income tax returns, household survey data, and national accounts. Inequality rose from the 1990s to the late 2000s due to falling labor incomes among the bottom 50% and rising incomes in the top 10%. This trend reversed after 2007 as labor incomes across the bottom 90% increased. The top 1% income share, dominated by business income, remained relatively stable between 1992 and 2019. A large share of Germany’s top 1% earners are non-corporate business owners in labor-intensive professions. At least half of the business owners in P99-99.9 and a quarter in the top 0.1% operate firms in professional services – a pattern mirroring the United States. From 1992 to 2019, Germany’s top 0.1% income concentration exceeded France’s and matched U.S. levels until the late 2000s.
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