Press release February 6, 2018

Good economic situation and positive employment trend lead to further decline in shadow economy in 2018 (in German).

Due to the good economic situation and increasing reported employment, the longer-term decline in the shadow economy continues unabated in 2018. The ratio of the shadow economy to the official economy is thus reduced to below 10%. The volume of the shadow economy in Germany is estimated at EUR 323 billion in 2018. However, the future German government could reduce the shadow economy even further through tax relief. For example, the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge would reduce the shadow economy by over EUR 10 billion.