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German employee social security contributions — your share of gross pay

As a rule the employee bears half of each contribution: 9.3 per cent pension, 1.3 per cent unemployment insurance, 1.8 per cent long-term care and half the health fund rate including its supplement. Childless employees pay a 0.6-point care surcharge on their own after the end of the month in which they turn 23.

2026 rules — verified on September 23, 2026Free, no account

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Sources and assumptions

Calculation assumptions

  • The health insurance ceiling is an input: SGB V s. 223(4), as read, only governs the year 2027.
  • Full rates are applied. For pay from more than marginal employment that does not regularly exceed EUR 2,000 a month, the transition band of SGB IV s. 20(2) applies its own formula, which is not modelled here.
  • Not modelled: marginal employment (mini-job) under SGB IV s. 8, whose pay does not regularly exceed the marginal earnings threshold. It is not part of the transition band, which covers only pay from more than marginal employment (SGB IV s. 20(2)). In it the employee is as a rule exempt from health and unemployment insurance (SGB V s. 7(1), SGB III s. 27(2)); in pension insurance the employer bears an amount equal to 15 per cent of the pay and the insured person the rest (SGB VI s. 168(1) no. 1b). For such pay, the result of this calculator does not apply.
  • Not modelled: the employer bears the whole social security contribution alone (SGB IV s. 20(3), sentence 1) for insured persons employed for their vocational training whose pay does not exceed EUR 325 a month, and for insured persons doing a voluntary social year, a voluntary ecological year or the Federal Volunteer Service. Their employee share is then zero; if a one-off payment takes pay above the EUR 325 limit, the excess is shared (SGB IV s. 20(3), sentence 2). The result of this calculator does not apply to them. The transition band does not apply to trainees either (SGB IV s. 20(2a)).
  • The reduction for the second to fifth child under 25 (SGB XI s. 55(3), sentence 4) is flagged but not allocated: SGB XI s. 58, as read, does not say who benefits from it.
  • General pension scheme and a statutory health fund; the miners' scheme and privately insured employees are excluded.
  • The calculation is for employees who have not yet reached the standard retirement age; age only changes the care surcharge here. Not modelled: in unemployment insurance, a person who completes the year of age giving entitlement to the standard old-age pension is exempt from the end of that month (SGB III s. 28(1) no. 1). In pension insurance, a person who draws a full old-age pension after the end of the month in which the standard retirement age was reached is exempt (SGB VI s. 5(4), sentence 1, no. 1), unless they waive the exemption by written or electronic declaration to the employer (SGB VI s. 5(4), sentence 2). From that age, the unemployment contribution shown here, and where applicable the pension contribution, are not due.

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This result is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Check your situation with the tax authorities or a professional.