Millions of people in Germany work the night shift, data shows

Almost one in 10 people employed in Germany worked the overnight shift in 2024, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday.

That amounts to just under 4 million people who worked at least occasionally between 11 pm and 6 am, the office said. This corresponds to 9.3% of the 42.6 million people in employment.

The share of people in employment working at night was 11.7% among men - nearly twice as high as among women, with 6.5%, the 2024 microcensus showed.

Night work is also more common among workers 34 and younger at 10.6% and with middle aged workers, aged 35 to 54, accounting for 9.6%. That dropped to 7.4% for those aged 55 and over

Lots of night work in transport, production and health

How many people work at night depends heavily on the sector. Night work was most widespread in 2024 in aviation, with 42.6%. This was followed by guard and security services and detective agencies at just over 40% and metal production and processing with 31.1%.

Above-average levels of night work were also found in warehousing and other transport services with 18.6%, healthcare at 17.6% and the hospitality industry with 13.9%.

By contrast, preparatory construction site work, building installation and other finishing trades had the lowest share of night workers at 1.8%, followed by IT services at 3.6% and education and teaching at 3.8%.