Distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors Germany 2019

The services sector is the largest in Germany and has been generating a steady share of around 60 percent of gross domestic product since 2007. Following the financial crisis, the services sector grew to just over 64 percent in 2009, but otherwise has made up a consistent share of GDP. Industry was hit the hardest in 2009, dropping just below a quarter of total GDP, while agriculture has been below one percent since the early 2000s.

Fewer jobs for agricultural workers

From 1991 to 1995, following the German Unification, the number of employees in agriculture, forestry, and fishery fell by over 300 thousand workers. Since then, it has declined more gradually, decreasing by about 250 thousand workers over more than two decades. Currently, less than two percent of workers are officially employed in the agricultural sector in Germany.

Service economies in developed nations

A large service sector is a common feature of advanced economies, generating around 70 percent of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Japan, respectively. These nations also have something else in common: a very small agricultural sector. Among them, Japan has the largest industry sector, comparable to Germany’s in fact, at roughly a third of generated GDP.