Press release No. N 023 of 4 May 2022
- Share of this age group markedly higher here than among all persons in employment
- Gross earnings in 2021 below those of the overall economy
- Number of apprentices at the end of 2020 higher than ten years before
WIESBADEN – The current shortage of supplies and the problems regarding global supply chains have drawn the attention to the importance professional drivers have for keeping the economy running – about three quarters of the transport performance in freight transport is achieved on the road, according to most recent figures. In Germany, roughly 480,000 people worked in this occupation in 2021. Many of them are expected to retire in the next few years. More than one third (35%) were aged 55 or over, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The proportion of the 55 plus age group among truck drivers thus is markedly higher than among all persons in employment (25%). The number of young people aged under 25 is rather low in that occupation; they accounted only for just over 3%. For comparison: the under 25 year olds account for just under 10% of all persons in employment. The percentage of women (3%) in this occupational group is unusually small, too. Overall, 47% of all persons in employment are women.
