First, the good news: a recent survey found that racism and discrimination in Germany have slightly declined compared with earlier studies. But the reassuring findings stop there: xenophobic and derogatory attitudes remain widespread.
From October 2025 through January this year, about 8,200 people aged 18 to 74 were surveyed on racism and discrimination. The survey was commissioned by the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (Dezim). A quarter of respondents said they believe in racial differences — a notion long discredited by science — and nearly half said certain groups are inherently more hardworking than others.
Tae Jun Kim, a co-author of the study and a sociologist at the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor, has observed that racist views are expressed less directly than in the past. “Modern racism is often just a more polite way of justifying existing hierarchies and subordination among groups,” he said.
Ferda Ataman, Germany’s independent federal anti-discrimination commissioner and a journalist by background, hears daily accounts of direct discrimination. She recounted a recent case: Sarah, a Black woman, was shopping when a store employee began searching her stroller without permission and justified the action by saying, “Sorry, but someone like you stole from here recently.”
Ataman’s own study found that one in eight people living in Germany experienced discrimination at least once in 2022. That report, “How Discrimination is Experienced in Germany,” used data from the Socio-Economic Panel 2022, which surveyed around 30,000 people. In absolute terms, the researchers estimate about 9 million people in Germany know what it is to be treated unfairly because of their appearance.
“Discrimination in Germany is not an isolated case, but a widespread phenomenon,” Ataman said. “It doesn’t just happen on the fringes, but at the very core of society — at work, at school, when looking for housing, when shopping.”
Despite legal protections, many affected people do not challenge discrimination. The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), in force for 20 years, prohibits discrimination based on most outward characteristics, but over half of those surveyed did not take any action after being discriminated against. Around 30% confronted the person responsible directly, while only 3% pursued legal action.
When asked why they believed they had been discriminated against, 42% cited ethnic heritage or race, and almost 24% cited gender, mostly women. Other reported grounds included age, religion and illness.
Ataman says Germany must do more. She wants nationality explicitly added to traits protected under the AGG and notes that other countries, such as Belgium, offer stronger legal protection for those affected, whereas her agency can mainly provide advice. She also argued that everyday discrimination appears less prevalent in English-speaking countries and Scandinavia than in Germany.
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) is an independent body within the Federal Ministry of Education; Ataman has served as the government’s commissioner since 2022.
This article was originally written in German.
