Editing Thuringia (section)

=== General economic parameters ===
The GDP of Thuringia is below the national average, in line with the other former East German Lands. Until 2004, Thuringia was one of the weakest regions within the [[European Union]]. The accession of several new countries, the crisis in southern Europe and the sustained economic growth in Germany since 2005 has brought the Thuringian GDP close to the EU average since then. The high economic subsidies granted by the federal government and the EU after 1990 are being reduced gradually and will end around 2020.

The unemployment rate reached its peak of 17.1% in 2005. Since then, it has decreased to 5.3% in 2019, which is only slightly above the national average. The decrease is caused on the one hand by the emergence of new jobs and on the other by a marked decrease in the working-age population, caused by emigration and low birth rates for decades. The wages in Thuringia are low compared to rich bordering Lands like [[Hesse]] and [[Bavaria]]. Therefore, many Thuringians are working in other German Lands and even in [[Austria]] and [[Switzerland]] as weekly commuters. Nevertheless, the demographic transition in Thuringia leads to a lack of workers in some sectors. External immigration into Thuringia has been encouraged by the government since about 2010 to counter this problem.

The economic progress is quite different between the regions of Thuringia. The big cities along the [[Bundesautobahn 4|A4 motorway]] such as [[Erfurt]], [[Jena]] and [[Eisenach]] and their surroundings are booming, whereas nearly all the rural regions, especially in the north and east, have little economic impetus and employment, which is a big issue in regional planning. Young people in these areas often have to commute long distances, and many emigrate soon after finishing school.

The unemployment rate stood at 5.9% in 2023 and was higher than the German average.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2524/umfrage/entwicklung-der-arbeitslosenquote-in-thueringen-seit-1999/|title=Arbeitslosenquote* in Thüringen von 2001 bis 2019|website=Statista|language=de|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundesländern 2023 |url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2192/umfrage/durchschnittliche-arbeitslosenquote-nach-bundeslaendern/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=Statista |language=de}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Year<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2018 |title=Federal Statistical Office Germany - GENESIS-Online |url=https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/data;sid=8605C2647C4C92D731CC1EC4BAC5AF53.GO_1_3?operation=ergebnistabelleUmfang&levelindex=3&levelid=1542098063701&downloadname=13211-0007 |access-date=13 November 2018 |website=www-genesis.destatis.de |language=en |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170119/https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/data;sid=8605C2647C4C92D731CC1EC4BAC5AF53.GO_1_3?operation=ergebnistabelleUmfang&levelindex=3&levelid=1542098063701&downloadname=13211-0007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
!2000
!2001
!2002
!2003
!2004
!2005
!2006
!2007
!2008
!2009
!2010
!2011
!2012
!2013
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
!2019
!2020
!2021
!2022
!2023
|-
|Unemployment rate in %
|15.4
|15.3
|15.9
|16.7
|16.7
|17.1
|15.6
|13.1
|11.2
|11.4
|9.8
|8.8
|8.5
|8.2
|7.8
|7.4
|6.7
|6.1
|5.5
|5.3
|6.0
|5.6
|5.3
|5.9
|}