More foreign professional qualifications recognized in Germany

More and more foreign professionals are having their qualifications recognized in Germany, with authorities approving 86,600 applications last year, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday.

That was almost 10% more than the previous year, although the rate of increase is slowing. In 2024 and 2023, approvals rose by 21% and 25% respectively.  

Germany is increasingly reliant on foreign professionals in a number of sectors due to falling birthrates and a rapidly ageing population.

As in previous years, most acceptances in 2025 came from Turkey (9,800), accounting for 11% of all recognitions. Around 8,300 recognitions from Ukraine were also reported.

Professionals from Syria (6,100), India and Tunisia (5,400 each) were also strongly represented. The number of recognized professional qualifications obtained in Syria rose particularly sharply, up 42% compared with the previous year.

By contrast, significantly fewer professional qualifications were recognized from Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 2016 to 2023, the Balkan country accounted for the most or second-most approved qualified professionals.

Nurses, doctors and engineers

As in the previous year, most of the recognized qualifications were in medical professions. The top spot went to nursing professionals, with 32,000 applications approved. They were followed by doctors (13,900) and engineers (4,600).

These three professions accounted for more than half (58%) of all recognized professions.