According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), based on a current evaluation of the “Health in Germany” 2024 panel published in the Journal of Health Monitoring, roughly one in ten working-age adults in Germany experiences an injury within a year that requires medical treatment. This figure translates to an estimated 7 million adults.
Overall, the statistics show that 9.5 percent of women and 10.5 percent of men reported at least one medically treated injury in the past twelve months. Demographically, young men aged 18 to 29 were particularly affected, with the 12-month prevalence rate reaching 15.1 percent. For women, the age pattern formed a ‘U’ shape; while young women were often affected, so were women aged 80 and over.
The location of the injuries highlighted varied patterns. The majority of accidents occurred at home or in the immediate domestic environment, accounting for 36 percent of cases. The last quarter of injuries were attributed to traffic and leisure activities, while another quarter was linked to professional or educational settings. A gender difference was noted regarding the scene of the accident: women were significantly more likely to have their accidents occur at home than men were. Conversely, regarding work-related injuries, men were disproportionately affected.
Stumbling was the most frequent cause of injury, representing 30.4 percent of all reported, medically treated accidents. The importance of falls increased notably with age; for adults aged 80 and older, approximately half of their recent injuries were attributed to falls.
The most common types of injuries included sprains, strains, ligament tears, and open or superficial wounds, as well as crush injuries. A bone fracture was diagnosed in 22 percent of the cases. Furthermore, nearly one in five injured persons required inpatient hospital care for their most recent incident; the average length of stay was recorded at 9.8 nights, according to the RKI.
