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Statistical data from the federal government and the federal states

Statistics on the federal act

Official statistics are produced on the Federal Government's Recognition procedure. The legal basis is Section 17 of the Federal Professional qualifications Assessment Act (BQFG). The statistics are produced by the statistical offices of the federal government and federal states. The Federal Statistical Office publishes new results from the statistics on a yearly basis. The reference date in each case is 31 December of the previous year. The Federal Institute for Vocational education and training (BIBB) evaluates the data from the federal statistics.

Since the Federal Government’s Recognition Act entered into force on 1 April 2012, 279,375 applications for recognition of a professional or Vocational qualification have been reported within federal statistics (reference date: 31 December 2022)

The results for 2022 in brief:

  • 39,312 applications reported, of which:
    • Top 3 Reference occupations: general nurse (16,635 applications), medical practitioner (7,422 applications) and physiotherapist (1,203 applications)
    • 82 percent were for vocational qualifications from third countries (in particular Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey and Philippines)
    • 48 percent of applications were made from abroad (foreign applications)
  • 44,130 procedures: decision made:
    • 47 percent with full Equivalence
    • 10 percent with partial equivalence
    • 35 percent with the “requirement” of a Compensation measure (not yet completed as of 31 December 2022).
    • 2 percent negative
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BIBB, 2023

Evaluation federal statistics 2022

Evaluation of the official statistics on the Federal Recognition Act 2022. Results of the BIBB Recognition Monitoring.

pdf, 2.3 MB
BIBB, 2022

Recognition Monitoring: Fact sheet for 2021

Facts and figures providing a clear summary of the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in 2021.

Show fact sheet

Statistics relating to federal state laws

Official statistics are also produced on the federal state Recognition procedures. In addition to the Federal Statistical Office, the statistical offices of the federal states also produce figures on the recognition of foreign professional or Vocational qualifications.

The following list of press releases from the various federal states is continuously updated.