Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Germany instead of United States, you would:

Health

be 38.4% less likely to be obese

In United States, 36.2% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Germany, that number is 22.3% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 13.6% less likely to be unemployed

In United States, 4.4% of adults are unemployed as of 2017. In Germany, that number is 3.8% as of 2017.

make 15.1% less money

United States has a GDP per capita of $59,800 as of 2017, while in Germany, the GDP per capita is $50,800 as of 2017.

be 10.6% more likely to live below the poverty line

In United States, 15.1% live below the poverty line as of 2010. In Germany, however, that number is 16.7% as of 2015.

pay a 19.9% higher top tax rate

United States has a top tax rate of 39.6% as of 2016. In Germany, the top tax rate is 47.5% as of 2016.

Life

be 63.2% less likely to die during childbirth

In United States, approximately 19.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Germany, 7.0 women do as of 2017.

be 37.7% less likely to die during infancy

In United States, approximately 5.3 children die before they reach the age of one as of 2020. In Germany, on the other hand, 3.3 children do as of 2020.

have 30.6% fewer children

In United States, there are approximately 12.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2020. In Germany, there are 8.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2020.

Geography

see 88.0% less coastline

United States has a total of 19,924 km of coastline. In Germany, that number is 2,389 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt), Internal Revenue Service.

Germany: At a glance

Germany is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 348,672 sq km. As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (after Russia), Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.
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How big is Germany compared to United States? See an in-depth size comparison.

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