Registered sex workers
Prostitutes with a valid registration under the Prostitutes Protection Act per 100,000 inhabitants, 31 December, 31.12.2025
At the end of 2025 the eastern states had 16.2 registered sex workers per 100,000 inhabitants; the West had 42.7, 2.6 times the eastern rate. The East is home to 15% of Germany's population but only 6% of registrations. Bremen (100.0) has the highest rate, Brandenburg (4.3) the lowest: a factor of 23.
< 20.3 per 100k20.3 per 100k36.2 per 100k52.2 per 100k68.1 per 100k≥ 84.1 per 100k
Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · 31.12.2025
Former West
42.7 per 100k
excl. Berlin
Former East
16.2 per 100k
excl. Berlin
Berlin
46.1 per 100k
Germany
38.9 per 100k
The East stands at 38% of the West's level (31.12.2025).
By state
- Bremen100.0 per 100k
- Saarland76.3 per 100k
- Hamburg68.4 per 100k
- Hessen60.6 per 100k
- Nordrhein-Westfalen46.4 per 100k
- Berlin46.1 per 100k
- Bayern36.4 per 100k
- Niedersachsen35.3 per 100k
- Baden-Württemberg34.1 per 100k
- Schleswig-Holstein33.7 per 100k
- Rheinland-Pfalz33.4 per 100k
- Sachsen28.7 per 100k
- Sachsen-Anhalt15.3 per 100k
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern11.6 per 100k
- Thüringen11.4 per 100k
- Brandenburg4.3 per 100k
31.12.2025
Notes & caveats
- Only registrations under the Prostitutes Protection Act (ProstSchG) are counted. Unregistered sex work is not recorded.
- Our calculation: count ÷ population on 31.12.2025 × 100,000. East = the five eastern states without Berlin.
- Registrations are counted at the seat of the authority that issued them, not where the work takes place. At the end of 2025 about 92% of registrations named the whole of Germany as the area of activity, so the map shows where people register rather than where they work.
- 32,474 registered prostitutes in Germany in total; the 16 state figures sum exactly to this total.
- Berlin: Destatis carried over Berlin's 31.12.2024 figures because Berlin could not deliver 2025 data in time (a software vendor's update broke the statistics module). The Berlin value is therefore 2024 data divided by the 2025 population, and it is included in the German total, as Destatis does. Some other reporting offices hit by the same problem supplied data via input forms or agreed estimates.
- Registration practice differs between municipalities, which can affect state rates.
Show the table
| State | Side | 31.12.2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Saarland | west | 76.3 per 100k |
| Berlin | berlin | 46.1 per 100k |
| Brandenburg | east | 4.3 per 100k |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | east | 11.6 per 100k |
| Sachsen | east | 28.7 per 100k |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | east | 15.3 per 100k |
| Thüringen | east | 11.4 per 100k |
| Schleswig-Holstein | west | 33.7 per 100k |
| Hamburg | west | 68.4 per 100k |
| Niedersachsen | west | 35.3 per 100k |
| Bremen | west | 100.0 per 100k |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | west | 46.4 per 100k |
| Hessen | west | 60.6 per 100k |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | west | 33.4 per 100k |
| Baden-Württemberg | west | 34.1 per 100k |
| Bayern | west | 36.4 per 100k |