Amazon in Germany: Investing in permanent jobs, the German economy and society

Amazon invests in the German economy

Since 2010, we have invested over €77 billion. Last year alone, we invested more than €12 billion in Germany, including in the expansion of our infrastructure for new locations and in operating expenses, such as those incurred for new jobs.

According to estimates by the economic consultancy Keystone, our investments in 2023 contributed over €8 billion to Germany's gross domestic product (GDP), bringing our total contribution to Germany's GDP to more than €50 billion since 2010.

A major employer in Germany

In June, we announced the creation of 4,000 permanent jobs by the end of this year and that we would have 40,000 employees in Germany by the end of 2024. The new jobs will be created, among other places, in the new logistics centres in Horn-Bad Meinberg (North Rhine-Westphalia), Erfurt (Thuringia), Dummerstorf (in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) and Großenkneten (Lower Saxony). We offer a wide range of career opportunities at our facility centres, offices and research sites: we not only offer numerous jobs, but also attractive working conditions. These include a starting wage of €15 gross per hour and numerous additional benefits such as a free Deutschlandticket, a company pension, extensive further training opportunities and family bonuses.

Between 2010 and 2023, we paid more than €16 billion in salaries and social security benefits to our employees in Germany. Last year, our investments created an estimated 110,000 indirect jobs at our partner companies in areas such as construction and logistics.

Investing in sustainability and environmental protection

In addition, we not only make targeted investments in the sustainability of our activities. In 2023, we continued to push ahead with the electrification of our logistics network. In 2023, more than 1,200 electric delivery vehicles were in use by Amazon's delivery partners in Germany, delivering 50 million parcels with zero emissions. And this is just the beginning: in the coming years, we will invest €400 million in the further electrification of our German transport network.

Our tax contribution in Germany

In addition to our social commitment, we also make a significant contribution to tax revenues in Germany. Our total tax bill last year was €5.2 billion, and €4.5 billion in 2022. Our direct corporate taxes amounted to €692 million (€579 million in 2022), including corporate income tax, trade tax, and social security contributions. Our indirect taxes resulting from our business activities in Germany amounted to €4.54 billion (€3.92 billion in 2022). These include value added tax and income tax from our employees.

Support for tens of thousands of SMEs

In addition to the investments around our sites, we support a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): they use our technology and services to expand their business and increase their sales – in Germany and in other countries.

We enable tens of thousands of SMEs to showcase their products to a broad spectrum of customers and to export worldwide - more than 60% of sales on Amazon come from SMEs. In 2023, around 47,500 German SMEs sold more than 750 million products via Amazon. This corresponds to more than 1,400 products sold per minute.

In 2023, more than 80% of SMEs reached customers not only in Germany but also throughout Europe and worldwide. This led to an export volume of €5.5 billion and corresponds to an increase of over 10% compared to the previous year. A large share of the export turnover generated was generated within the EU, namely €4.5 billion. To date, German SMEs have created more than 170,000 jobs across Germany to conduct their online business on Amazon.

Committing to social causes

In 2023, our employees completed almost 14,000 hours of volunteer work, making a lasting contribution to society. As an example, at the end of the year, almost 300 employees wrapped around 4,000 gifts for the Munich and Berlin food banks for children and families in need. In 2023, we actively supported around 850 organisations at over 100 locations in the country in the areas of digital education, local aid, and free and unconditional disaster relief with donations of money, time and goods.