Medical healthcare occupations once again dominated the overall recognition picture with almost 13,800 applications submitted by general nurses (German: Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger/in and Pflegefachleute). The occupation of medical doctor was in second place, with around 6,400 applications. However, non-regulated occupations such as electronics technician (m/f) and cook (m/f) were also among the occupations most in demand.

In recent years, applications for federal occupations have stemmed increasingly from qualifications from third countries. This trend has continued: In 78 percent of new applications in 2021, the professional qualification came from a third country.  The majority of these were qualifications from Bosnia and Herzegovina (3,600 applications), followed by applications relating to Philippine and Serbian qualifications (in each case well over 2000 applications).

In 2021, more than half of procedures for federal occupations resulted in full equivalence, and 11 percent of procedures arrived at the result of partial equivalence. In over a third of other cases, the competent authorities opted for a compensation measure as a “requirement”. 2 percent of procedures ended without recognition.

As the number of applications has increased, the procedures for federal occupations in 2021 have also become faster. For example, for non-regulated occupations, a decision was reached within three months in almost 80 percent of procedures. This is an increase of 20 percentage points compared to the previous year. A slight improvement was also evident in the area of regulated occupations.

For 2021, the competent authorities also reported that almost 1,130 of the new applications involved a recognition procedure under the accelerated skilled worker process in accordance with Section 81a of the Residence Act (AufenthG).