The 2026 rates: health insurance 14.6% plus a fund-specific Zusatzbeitrag (average 2.9%); long-term care 3.6%; pension 18.6%; unemployment 2.6%. Together, at the average Zusatzbeitrag, about 42.3% of gross pay up to the ceilings — split roughly half-and-half.
The ceilings: contributions stop at €5,812.50/month (€69,750/year) for KV and PV, and €8,450/month (€101,400/year) for RV and AV — one set of figures nationwide in 2026. Pay above the ceiling is contribution-free.
The exceptions to 50/50: the 0.6% care surcharge for childless employees is employee-only; Saxony splits care insurance 1.3% employer / 2.3% employee; and the Umlagen U1, U2 and Insolvenzgeldumlage, plus accident insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft), are employer-only. Minijobs (≤ €603/month in 2026) run on employer-only flat rates through the Minijob-Zentrale.
The four branches, and the 2026 rates
German social insurance (Sozialversicherung) is contribution-funded: a percentage of each employee's gross pay, fixed by federal law, flows into four branches. As verified against the Deutsche Rentenversicherung's employer reference (summa summarum) on 10 July 2026, the rates are:
- Krankenversicherung (KV) — statutory health insurance: 14.6% (the allgemeiner Beitragssatz; a reduced 14.0% applies where there is no sick-pay entitlement), plus a Zusatzbeitrag set by each Krankenkasse. Funds price this individually; the government-announced average is 2.9% for 2026 (up from 2.5% in 2025). Since 2019 the Zusatzbeitrag is split half-and-half like the main rate.
- Pflegeversicherung (PV) — long-term care insurance: 3.6% (since 1 January 2025). Childless employees pay a 0.6% surcharge from age 23; parents' rates fall by 0.25 percentage points per child from the second child, capped at 1.0 point — the employer share is unaffected by either adjustment.
- Rentenversicherung (RV) — pension insurance: 18.6% (unchanged since 2018).
- Arbeitslosenversicherung (AV) — unemployment insurance: 2.6% (since 1 January 2024).
At the 2026 average Zusatzbeitrag, the four branches sum to 42.3% of gross pay up to the ceilings — roughly 21.15% for each side before the PV adjustments. The employer's true add-on is higher: the Umlagen, the Insolvenzgeldumlage and accident insurance (below) sit on top of the employer half, and none of them touch the employee's payslip.
Who pays what: the 50/50 rule and its exceptions
The Deutsche Rentenversicherung states the baseline: "Die Beiträge zur Kranken-, Pflege-, Renten- und Arbeitslosenversicherung werden grundsätzlich vom Arbeitgeber und vom Arbeitnehmer je zur Hälfte getragen" — "contributions to health, long-term care, pension and unemployment insurance are, as a rule, borne half by the employer and half by the employee" (our translation). The employer withholds the employee's half from gross pay and remits the combined amount.
The exceptions are few, but every one of them shows up in a payroll audit:
- The PV childless surcharge is employee-only. A childless employee aged 23+ carries 0.6% alone — 2.4% against the employer's 1.8% (at the 3.6% rate). The per-child reductions likewise change only the employee's side.
- Saxony splits care insurance differently. Per the DRV, the employer's PV share in Saxony is 1.3% and the employee's 2.3% (2.9% if childless) — the only Land-level deviation from the half-and-half rule.
- The Umlagen are employer-only. U1 funds the sick-pay reimbursement scheme for employers with up to 30 employees (it refunds 80% of continued-pay costs); U2 funds maternity-cost reimbursement (100% of the Mutterschutz wage costs) and is paid by all employers; the Insolvenzgeldumlage protects wages in employer insolvency. For minijobs the 2026 rates are fixed nationally (0.8%, 0.22% and 0.15%); for regular staff, U1/U2 rates are those of the employee's Krankenkasse — verify yours with that fund.
- Accident insurance (UV) is employer-only, and separate. Statutory accident cover runs through the Berufsgenossenschaft (or another Unfallversicherungsträger) with an individually assessed employer contribution — it never appears as an employee deduction.
The ceilings: Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen
Contributions are not open-ended. Per the DRV: "Die Beiträge werden von einem Arbeitsentgelt bis zur Höhe der für den Abrechnungszeitraum geltenden Beitragsbemessungsgrenze erhoben" — contributions are levied on earnings only up to the assessment ceiling in force for the pay period (our translation). Since 2025 one set of figures applies nationwide; for 2026:
- KV and PV: €69,750 per year — €5,812.50 per month.
- RV and AV: €101,400 per year — €8,450 per month (set by the Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 278).
Above the ceiling, that branch simply stops counting: the slice of salary beyond it attracts no contributions, from either side, and benefits are correspondingly capped. The employee remains fully insured. In money terms, the maximum 2026 pension contribution is €1,571.70 per month (18.6% of €8,450), published by the DRV — however far the salary exceeds €101,400.
A different threshold governs private health insurance: the Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze (JAEG), set at €77,400 for 2026 (€6,450/month) by the same ordinance. Only employees whose regular pay exceeds the JAEG can leave statutory health insurance for private cover; the ordinance also sets a lower, grandfathered JAEG of €69,750 for a closed group of long-standing privately insured employees. The tests around crossing the JAEG (regularity, forecasts, timing of the switch) have real edge cases — verify the specifics with the employee's Krankenkasse before changing anyone's status.
The Beitragsbemessungsgrenze caps how much of the salary is contributory; the Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze decides whether statutory health insurance is compulsory at all. In 2026 they even share a number (€69,750 is both the KV/PV ceiling and the grandfathered JAEG) — but they are different instruments, reset independently each year by ordinance.
How the money actually flows
Despite the four branches, the employer makes one payment per employee population, to one place: the Einzugsstelle, which is the employee's own Krankenkasse — per the DRV, "Einzugsstellen sind die Krankenkassen, an die der Gesamtsozialversicherungsbeitrag abzuführen ist" ("collection points are the health insurance funds to which the combined social insurance contribution is to be paid", our translation). Each month the employer files a Beitragsnachweis — a contribution statement, electronic only — with each Krankenkasse that insures at least one employee, in time for the start of the fifth-last bank working day of the month; that is two working days before the contributions themselves fall due (the third-last bank working day). The Krankenkasse then distributes each branch's share onward to the pension and unemployment funds. In practice this means a company's payroll runs to a mid-twenties calendar deadline every month, per Kasse, with the payment following two banking days later.
Minijobs and midijobs: the special regimes
Below €603 per month (2026; €7,236 per year) an employment is a minijob, and the normal contribution machinery is replaced. The Einzugsstelle is not the Krankenkasse but the Minijob-Zentrale — in its own words, "wir sind die Einzugs- und Meldestelle für alle Minijobs in Deutschland" ("we are the collection and reporting point for all minijobs in Germany", our translation). The employer pays flat rates that the employee never sees deducted; per the Minijob-Zentrale's 2026 figures for commercial minijobs:
- 13% flat-rate health insurance and 15% flat-rate pension insurance (private households: 5% + 5%), borne by the employer alone;
- usually a 2% flat payroll tax (Pauschsteuer), collected by the Minijob-Zentrale with the contributions;
- the Umlagen: U1 0.8% (cut from 1.1% on 1 January 2026), U2 0.22%, Insolvenzgeldumlage 0.15%;
- in total at most about 31.17% on top of the minijobber's wage — accident insurance with the Berufsgenossenschaft comes separately.
The minijobber's own deduction is normally just a 3.6% pension share (topping the employer's 15% up to the full 18.6%), and they can apply to be exempted from it. From €603.01 to €2,000 per month the Übergangsbereich (midijob) applies: the employee is fully insured in all four branches, but their contribution share is reduced on a sliding scale that reaches the normal level only at €2,000 — the employer's share stays broadly normal. The €603 threshold itself is dynamic: it tracks the statutory minimum wage, so it moves every time the Mindestlohn does.
Before the first German pay run: 1) Get a Betriebsnummer from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit's Betriebsnummern-Service (§ 18i SGB IV) — usually issued online immediately; every filing carries it. 2) Ask each employee for their Krankenkasse — that fund becomes your Einzugsstelle for them. 3) File the DEÜV Anmeldung (reason 10) with the first payroll run, at latest six weeks after the start date — and note that in certain sectors a Sofortmeldung is due at latest when work begins. 4) Submit the electronic Beitragsnachweis to each Kasse by the fifth-last bank working day, monthly, and pay by the due date. 5) Register with the competent Berufsgenossenschaft for accident insurance. Minijobbers follow the same logic, but everything goes to the Minijob-Zentrale instead.
Quick answers
Who pays German social insurance contributions — the employer or the employee?
Both, in principle half each. Per the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, contributions to health, long-term care, pension and unemployment insurance are as a rule borne half by the employer and half by the employee; since 2019 that also applies to the health fund's individual Zusatzbeitrag. The employer withholds the employee's half from gross pay and remits the whole amount. The exceptions: the 0.6% long-term care surcharge for childless employees from age 23 is borne by the employee alone; in Saxony the long-term care split is employer 1.3% / employee 2.3%; and the Umlagen U1, U2 and the Insolvenzgeldumlage, plus statutory accident insurance, are paid by the employer alone.
What happens to earnings above the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze?
Nothing — that slice of pay is contribution-free. Contributions are calculated only on earnings up to the ceiling for the period: in 2026 that is €5,812.50 per month (€69,750 per year) for health and long-term care insurance and €8,450 per month (€101,400 per year) for pension and unemployment insurance, nationwide. Pay above the ceiling attracts no contributions in that branch, and the employee stays insured. Don't confuse this with the Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze (€77,400 in 2026), which is a different threshold: it governs whether an employee can leave statutory health insurance for private cover at all.
What is different for minijobs?
For a minijob (up to €603 per month in 2026), the normal half-and-half contributions are replaced by employer-only flat rates paid to the Minijob-Zentrale, which is the collection point for all minijobs in Germany: 13% health insurance, 15% pension insurance, usually a 2% flat tax, plus the Umlagen U1 (0.8% in 2026), U2 (0.22%) and the Insolvenzgeldumlage (0.15%) — at most about 31.17% in total for commercial employers. The minijobber's own deduction is normally just a 3.6% pension share, and they can apply to be exempted from that. From €603.01 to €2,000 per month the midijob (Übergangsbereich) rules apply: full insurance in all branches, but with a reduced employee share that rises gradually to the normal level.
Does the employer pay more than the employee?
On the four branches themselves the two sides are roughly equal — about 21% of gross each at 2026 rates, up to the ceilings — and a childless employee actually pays slightly more than the employer because the 0.6% care surcharge is employee-only. But the employer's total is higher, because a layer of employer-only charges sits on top: the U1 sickness levy (for employers with up to 30 employees), the U2 maternity levy (all employers), the Insolvenzgeldumlage, and statutory accident insurance contributions to the Berufsgenossenschaft. For minijobs the imbalance is extreme: the employer pays flat rates of up to about 31.17% while the minijobber normally pays only a 3.6% pension share.
Four branches, one correct pay run
Ledra Pay's German country pack carries the current rates, ceilings and Umlagen for every calendar year, applies the PV surcharges and the Saxony split per employee, routes minijobs to the Minijob-Zentrale rules automatically, and produces the monthly Beitragsnachweis figures with an auditable receipt on every calculation — so a Betriebsprüfung is an export, not an emergency.
See German payroll →Government sources
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum Lexikon: Beitragssatz (2026 rates: KV 14.6%/14.0%, PV 3.6% with surcharge and child reductions, RV 18.6%, AV 2.6%).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Lexikon: Beitragstragung (the 50/50 rule; childless surcharge employee-only; the Saxony split; employer-only minijob flat rates).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Lexikon: Zusatzbeitrag zur Krankenversicherung (fund-specific Zusatzbeitrag; 2.9% average for 2026; halved since 2019).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Lexikon: Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (2026 ceilings: €69,750 KV/PV, €101,400 RV/AV).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Lexikon: Einzugsstelle (the Krankenkasse as collection point; the Minijob-Zentrale for minijobs).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Lexikon: Beitragsnachweis (electronic-only filing by the fifth-last bank working day, two working days before the due date).
- BMAS — Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026 (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 278: JAEG €77,400 / €69,750; RV ceiling €101,400; Bezugsgröße €47,460).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum brochure: Meldungen 2026 (Betriebsnummer under § 18i SGB IV; DEÜV Anmeldung with the first payroll run, at latest six weeks after start; Sofortmeldung at latest on starting work).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — Berechnungsgrößen und Beitragswerte 2026 (V0091) (maximum monthly RV contribution €1,571.70).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze (€603/month and €7,236/year in 2026; the Übergangsbereich €603.01–€2,000; Einzugs- und Meldestelle for all minijobs).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Der gewerbliche Minijob: Beiträge, Umlagen und Steuern (13% KV, 15% RV, 2% Pauschsteuer, U1 0.8%, U2 0.22%, InsO 0.15%, ≤31.17% total; employee 3.6% RV share; accident insurance paid separately to the UV-Träger).
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Minijob-Beiträge 2026 (U1 cut from 1.1% to 0.8% on 1 January 2026; household minijob rates).
- Minijob-Zentrale Magazin — Umlageverfahren im Minijob (U1 for employers with up to 30 employees, 80% refund; U2 for all employers, 100% refund).
Note: the consolidated SGB texts on gesetze-im-internet.de were unreachable at the time of writing, so this article cites the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, BMAS and Minijob-Zentrale pages that restate the statute. U1/U2 rates for regular (non-minijob) employees are set by each Krankenkasse — confirm yours with that fund.
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