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Sunshine in Germany: the number of sunny days, hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by year, season, month, and also by federated state


§ Hours of sunshine annual quantity in Germany

According to the German Meteorological Service, aka the German Weather Service (DWD), in 2022 the annual quantity of hours of sunshine in Germany totalled 2'024 hours, which means that the national average for the year was hours of sunshine a day or 169 full sunny days.

To calculate the number of full sunny days per year, we divide the quantity of sunshine hours by 12, and to get the sunshine hours average quantity per day, we divide it by 365.

The sunshine duration in Germany in 2022: 2'024 hours.

§ How to estimate, appreciate the meaning of the indicator value as to the hours of sunshine quantity per year?

At present, in Germany, the time when the sun is shining is recorded in minutes of the beam solar radiation (clear sky, allowing sunlight in the place of measurements) over a certain period of time in a certain place. The solar radiation duration is affected by the climatic zone, cloudiness, smog availability, terrain, season, and other factors. On average, from 1,300 to 1,900 hours of sunshine are registered in the country per year, with the average figure thus being equal to 1,600 hours per year.

To calculate the number of full sunny days per year, we divide the quantity of sunshine hours by 12, and to get the average quantity of sunshine hours per day, we divide it by 365. Of course, the figures obtained are averaged and do not provide accurate data regarding the actual number of sunny days per year.

For reference, Table 1 below features the data on the sunshine hours average quantity in different cities around the world. The data were taken from the WeatherOnline Ltd. Weather Service tables for the period from 2000 to 2018, yearly average.

Table 1. Hours of sunshine average quantity in different cities around the world, yearly average.

City Hours of sunshine quantity, yearly average
Marseille, France 2900
Madrid, Spain 2800
Athens, Greece 2500
Warsaw, Poland 2100
Zurich, Switzerland 1200
London, England 1050

§ The hours of sunshine quantity and number of sunny days in Germany by month of the year

Table 2 offered below shows the hours of sunshine quantity, as well as number of sunny days in Germany, in the space of a month, by month as of 2022.

Table 2. Hours of sunshine quantity and number of sunny days in Germany, in the space of a month, by month as of 2022.

Sunshine duration measurement month Hours quantity per month Hours quantity per day Number of days per month
January 41.2 1.4 3.4
February 85.0 2.8 7.1
March 235.2 7.8 19.6
April 190.4 6.3 15.9
May 247.7 8.3 20.6
June 278.8 9.3 23.2
July 265.8 8.9 22.2
August 272.8 9.1 22.7
September 152.3 5.1 12.7
October 141.1 4.7 11.8
November 75.3 2.5 6.3
December 38.8 1.3 3.2

Table key:

As can be seen from Table 2, the sunniest month in Germany was june, this month the sun shone 279 hours. The darkest month was december, with just 39 hours of sunshine.

Chart 1. Hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by month

§ Change in the hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by year and season

Table 3 offered below shows the hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by year over the past 10 years.

Table 3. Hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by year.

Sunshine duration measurement year Hours per year Hours in winter Hours in spring Hours in summer Hours in autumn
2013 1'507.6 91.3 398.7 725.2 272.6
2014 1'620.9 191.3 529.9 637.1 296.2
2015 1'742.6 145.6 550.6 696.9 306.7
2016 1'607.4 174.8 477.2 619.3 336.9
2017 1'596.1 206.2 525.6 643.9 257.1
2018 2'015.4 174.7 625.9 778.6 438.8
2019 1'834.2 198.1 520.7 767.4 314.3
2020 1'896.0 182.0 708.7 669.3 360.3
2021 1'631.2 172.0 498.6 612.5 345.0
2022 2'024.1 164.0 673.2 817.3 368.6

As can be seen from Table 3, over the past 10 years, the sunniest year in Germany was 2022, with the hours of sunshine quantity totalling 2'024. The darkest year was 2013, with the hours of sunshine quantity totalling just 1'508.

Chart 2. Change in the hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by year

§ The number of sunny days and hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by federated state

In 2022 Baden-Württemberg was the sunniest federated state in the country, where the hours of sunshine quantity made 2'176. The darkest federated state happened to be Schleswig-Holstein, with the hours of sunshine quantity being just 1'934.

Table 4. Hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by federated state as of 2022.

Federated state Hours of sunshine quantity per year Hours of sunshine quantity in winter Hours of sunshine quantity in summer
Schleswig-Holstein 1'934 hours per year
161 days
5 hours per day
154.1 756.6
Lower Saxony 1'945 hours per year
162 days
5 hours per day
139.1 768.5
Bremen 1'945 hours per year
162 days
5 hours per day
139.0 768.6
Hamburg 1'945 hours per year
162 days
5 hours per day
139.0 768.6
Thuringia 1'969 hours per year
164 days
5 hours per day
141.3 807.1
North Rhine-Westphalia 1'984 hours per year
165 days
5 hours per day
142.2 790.1
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 1'994 hours per year
166 days
5 hours per day
144.2 794.3
Saxony 2'003 hours per year
167 days
5 hours per day
152.0 786.5
Hesse 2'003 hours per year
167 days
5 hours per day
141.9 848.5
Saxony-Anhalt 2'012 hours per year
168 days
6 hours per day
146.0 806.2
Brandenburg 2'018 hours per year
168 days
6 hours per day
143.5 792.1
Berlin 2'018 hours per year
168 days
6 hours per day
143.3 792.4
Bavaria 2'055 hours per year
171 days
6 hours per day
194.0 840.5
Rhineland-Palatinate 2'096 hours per year
175 days
6 hours per day
170.9 875.3
Saarland 2'138 hours per year
178 days
6 hours per day
179.8 904.1
Baden-Württemberg 2'176 hours per year
181 days
6 hours per day
228.5 894.6

Table key:

Hours of sunshine quantity in Germany by federated state as of 2022.

The number of sunny days and hours of sunshine quantity in Germany

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