Germany Records Record Number of Discrimination Complaints in 2025
According to Ferda Ataman, the issue is not merely about protecting minority groups. While presenting the 2025 annual report, he emphasised that everyone can experience discrimination throughout their lives, and therefore, the struggle is for adequate protection ‘for everyone in Germany’.
The report noted that 13,067 consultation requests were submitted to the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency during the past year. This figure represents an increase of 1,662 cases compared to 2024 and is more than triple the number recorded in 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Discrimination affects millions in Germany
For Ataman, these figures represent only the tip of the iceberg. He cited recent findings from a comprehensive Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) survey published a few months ago, which indicated that more than 13 per cent of the German population reported experiencing discrimination in the last 12 months. If extrapolated, this reaches approximately nine million people across the country.
Only a small fraction of victims contact the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency. The institution, established 20 years ago, was created as a consequence of the implementation of the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG) in 2006. The AGG aims to prevent and eliminate various forms of discrimination, as guaranteed by the German Constitution.
The most frequently reported form of discrimination is racism, based on perceived ethnic origin, accounting for 4,571 reports, or 43 per cent of all complaints. Interestingly, this proportion has remained relatively stable compared to the previous two years. A similar pattern was observed in other categories; disability or chronic illness was cited as a reason for discrimination in approximately 28 per cent of consultation requests in 2025, slightly higher than in previous years. Meanwhile, gender or gender identity issues appeared in about 22 per cent of cases, nearly identical to previous proportions.
Female startup founder: Between racism and sexism
In the annual report, Deborah Choi, a founder of several startups and a company director, shared her experience of facing racial discrimination. A Nigerian-born woman who grew up in the United States and now lives in Berlin, she stated that she frequently encounters both racism and sexism.
‘As a Black woman, I routinely face racism and sexism—both while building startups and simply walking around Berlin,’ she said. According to Choi, racism is not a uniquely German issue but a global problem. Her experience demonstrates that many people must work far harder just to achieve equal opportunities with others.
Ferda Ataman is an independent federal commissioner. A graduate of political science, he does not operate under the control of the federal government and cannot be dismissed by the Chancellor. He was elected by the Bundestag in the summer of 2022 for a five-year term following a proposal from the coalition government at the time, consisting of the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP.
Ataman levelled sharp criticism against the AGG reforms currently being pushed by the present government, a CDU/CSU and SPD coalition. This reform represents the first major revision of the law in effect since 2006.
Germany’s frugal approach to fighting discrimination
Ataman believes the current framework remains too limited, particularly regarding funding. He noted that all other European nations allocate larger investments for anti-discrimination protection than Germany. He cited Belgium as an example, which allocates approximately one euro per inhabitant to its anti-discrimination agency, totaling around 10 million euros. In contrast, Germany provides only 10.4 million euros, despite having a population exceeding 83 million.
Nevertheless, for Ataman, the substance of the reform is more important than budgetary issues. One of his primary demands is to extend the time limit for victims to pursue legal action after experiencing discrimination. Currently, victims in Germany have only two months to initiate legal proceedings. Under the government’s plan, this limit will be extended to four months. However, Ataman considers this timeframe far from adequate; in several EU countries, victims are given between three to five years.
He argues that only with a sufficiently long deadline can victims obtain proper assistance and carefully consider the possibility of a lawsuit.
Suing state-led discrimination
Ataman also highlighted the need to consider new forms of protection when the perpetrator of discrimination is not a human, but a computer programme, artificial intelligence (AI), or an algorithm. Furthermore, until now, victims have been unable to sue for discriminatory actions carried out by state institutions—a provision that has been in place since 2006.
‘The state must not exclude itself,’ said Ataman. He believes that insults or discriminatory treatment by state institutions, public authorities, or their employees must also be subject to legal action.
Ataman hopes the Bundestag will implement significant changes to the government’s draft legislation during the upcoming legislative process. He claimed he was only informed of the draft just before its approval in the federal cabinet and was almost entirely excluded from its drafting. For over three years, more than 120 organisations within the ‘Bündnis AGG Reform Jetzt!’ alliance have demanded stronger legal protection against discrimination. According to Ataman, the alliance reflects the ‘entire spectrum of society’ in an unprecedented coalition.