List of access keys Homepage Site Map Search ContactUs Skip to main content

Costs of setting up an office in Hamburg

The city of Hamburg is interested in attracting businesses and skilled migrants and offers assistance with the paper work.

Rental costs

As a general guideline, renting office space in Hamburg costs (in 2008) Euro 12-18 a square metre per month, not including electricity, heating and phone charges. Offices are usually unfurnished.

Foreign companies that set up their German headquarters in Hamburg may be entitled to a rent subsidy. A range of free, specialised property services for companies searching for office space are also available.

Premises in serviced office centres are an alternative to renting. Their monthly rent is around Euro 600 -1000 a workplace, depending on the area of town and the level of service provided.

Get the full report

PDF available for download

Telecommunications costs

German telecommunication and internet costs have decreased immensely in the past few years and they can be quite low by European standards.

Internet access can be through dial-up or ISDN/DSL or high-speed ADSL. Charges are gradually moving towards flat rates for phones, mobile phones and internet access.

Staff costs

The customary way to find suitable personnel is to advertise in local or national newspapers. Advertisement costs are high.

Wages and salaries are paid monthly - how much depends on the employees' qualifications. As a rough guide, the average annual wage of an industrial employee in Germany is around Euro 25-32,000 and that of a white-collar employee is around Euro 30-40,000.

Employers also pay statutory social security contributions.

Regulations

There are several ways of setting up independent companies in Germany. There are distinctions in German law between companies funded by shares and those formed by partnerships. In addition to setting up independent companies, irrespective of their legal form, it is also possible to establish non-independent subsidiaries or branch offices.

Germany’s tax legislation is very complicated, especially laws covering the computation of taxable profits.

Download the full report

Costs of setting up an office in Hamburg [PDF, 75kb]

Germany country brief
Germany is the largest consumer market in the European Union (EU) with a population of around 82 million. It has a huge export industry and was the world's largest exporter, until it was recently displaced by China.