Employed foreigners in Germany earn much less than domestic citizens, according to the statistics of the Federal Labor Agency.
While German citizens last year had an average monthly income of 3.509 euros gross - that is, before paying taxes and contributions - for foreigners, this value was 2.614 euros.
That's even for 895 euros or a quarter less.
It is not the average but the so-called median, the value below and above which exactly half of all incomes are found.
Unlike the average, this value mitigates the impact of very low and especially very high salaries and is considered to better speak about the standard of the "ordinary" person.
Foreigners do lower paying jobs
The difference between Germans and foreigners is especially drastic when it comes to immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan or Eritrea, who earn 1.475 euros less than natives.
The statistics were announced by the Federal Government in response to a parliamentary inquiry from Alternative for Germany.
It is especially noticeable how much the differences have increased in previous years - so in 2010, the difference was 11,6 percent (317 euros).
The difference cannot be attributed only to education, as it exists even among unskilled workers - foreigners receive 415 euros less than Germans.
Unskilled workers from Serbia and the region earn 208 euros less per month, while people from refugee countries have 657 euros less per month.
Only 16 percent of all German employees work in the so-called "low-wage sector", while the proportion of foreigners is 37 percent.
Does migration lower earnings?
The German government interprets the difference in wages as the fact that workers from abroad often have less experience and expertise.
According to the Government's response, the employment of more foreigners can have a "pressure effect on the average salary".
"People who have just moved to Germany are at the beginning of their career," says Herbert Bricker from the Institute for Labor Market Research at the Labor Agency.
"Their salaries will increase significantly during their career," he told the dpa agency.
Rene Springer, MP for Alternative for Germany, who asked the Government this question, says that "immigration must not lead to dumping of wages".
His party strongly opposes mass immigration, primarily the reception of asylum seekers.
Bricker, on the other hand, says that "the arrival of migrants has only a marginal impact on wages".
The differences, according to the government in Berlin, can be reduced by the legally prescribed minimum wage, which has existed for several years, and by encouraging foreigners to train in Germany.
According to the Federal Labor Agency, in the last month of last year there were 21 million domestic citizens and three million foreigners working full-time in Germany.
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