Less salary and more unhappiness: the gap that gives wings to the far right in eastern Germany

BarcelonaIt is no coincidence that one of the protagonists of the election campaign in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt has been an old acquaintance for the citizens: the old Simson motorcycle, associated with the daily life of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The motorcycle, painted blue, the color of Alternative for Germany (AfD), is the vehicle with which the leader of the far-right party Ulrich Siegmund has ridden through election events in which, even, members of the AfD have sung the anthem of the GDR.

Both images aim to connect with a nostalgia that some citizens of East Germany feel for the GDR, more than thirty years after the reunification process. Socioeconomic data show that decades later, full convergence between the eastern and western states has not been achieved and, electorally, they translate into an invisible wall that divides the country. Despite the significant rise of the far right in the west, it is in the eastern states, like Saxony-Anhalt, where it triumphs.

Although economic differences have been narrowing since 1991, when workers in the east earned less than half of those in the west, the gap remains with salaries that are on average between 17% and 21% lower than those in the eastern states, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office. The average annual gross income, including special payments, rose to 55,435 euros in western Germany in 2025, and stood at 46,013 euros in the east of the country. Berlin, however, has salaries closer to those of the west.

In the case of the minimum wage, the east has a higher proportion of workers who depend directly on this wage floor. While in the east 29% of workers are in this salary range, in the west the figure stands at 16%. In contrast, the wage gap between men and women is lower in the eastern states: in western Germany the gender pay gap has traditionally been around 19% and 21%, while in the east it fluctuates between 5% and 7%.

With historically lower wages, men in the east receive pensions that on average are lower than those in the west. Conversely, women in the east have higher average pensions than those in the west because they used to work full-time in the former GDR. For this reason, the gender gap in pensions is also smaller in the eastern territories.

Emigration from the east

Economic differences also reach savings and the day-to-day life of households. In the west, they have an average net annual disposable budget of nearly 40,000 euros, while in the east, they do not reach 34,000 euros. In the eastern states, the GDP per capita has historically stagnated between 75% and 80% of the western level, and several eastern states are among the poorest in the country.

The economic divide is also manifested in the unemployment rate: in the east, it remains structurally around 8%, and it reached 18% in the first years of reunification. There are also differences in private wealth and inheritances, which are much lower in the east due to the lack of private property for decades.

Since reunification, the population of the eastern states has fallen by 16% –excluding Berlin–, especially due to the emigration of young people to the west in search of better wages. This has caused an aging of the rural population that is more pronounced in the east than in the west.

In terms of identity, differences are also observed. According to the Allensbach Institute, almost half of the citizens in the east have a strong bond with their territory, while in the western part of the country 71% of the population feel predominantly German. According to the same survey, 30% see themselves as second-class citizens and only 31% believe that democracy according to the federal republic model is the best form of government, a figure that rises to 72% in the case of the west. Citizens of the western states also declare themselves to be happier, according to the European Social Survey.

The political divide

The socioeconomic gap between the states historically in the east and those in the west translates into an invisible wall with a political fracture. Although the AfD has also grown significantly in the west, it is in the eastern territories of the former GDR where the far-right party triumphs, to the point of brushing against an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt.

The rise began in 2016, coinciding with the refugee crisis, and consolidated until reaching a key point in 2024 with the first victory of the AfD in a state, which also meant the first triumph of a far-right party in Germany since Nazism. The first victory was in Thuringia and the definitive shake-up has arrived in Saxony-Anhalt, with 43.8% of the votes, where the AfD has also capitalized on the nostalgia for the GDR.