The number of registered prostitutes in Germany is increasing, but is still below the number that was active before the corona pandemic, according to government figures published on Friday.
According to the German Statistical Office, around 30,600 prostitutes were registered with authorities at the end of 2023, 8.3% more than the previous year.
While this is a further increase, it remains lower than the number of registered sex workers in the country before the pandemic. At the end of 2019, there were 40,400 registered prostitutes.
Since 2017, German law requires sex workers to register.
Unregistered sex workers are not included in the statistics.
The data shows that three-quarters of registered prostitutes are between 21 and 44 years old, about a fifth (21%) are 45 years or older and 4% are between 18 and 20 years old.
Only 18% of registered sex workers had German nationality. The most common nationality was Romanian (36%), while 11% had Bulgarian nationality and 7% Spanish nationality.
The government does not keep gender information of sex workers. This information does not have to be provided at registration.
The number of valid or provisional permits for a prostitution business remained unchanged from the previous year at 2,300, the statistics service said. At the end of 2019, before the pandemic, the number of registered prostitution businesses was 2,200.
Physical establishments such as brothels made up 93% of registered prostitution businesses at the end of 2023. Another 5% of businesses were prostitution agencies and 2% were prostitution vehicles or events.
Prostitution businesses in Germany require a license. The agency said it could not provide information on businesses operating without the required license.
The German Prostitution Act of 2002 declared prostitution as a normal trade in the country. Since 2017, the Prostitute Protection Act also stipulates that brothels need an operating license.
Prostitutes are required to register their activities and to seek regular health advice.
