Cost of Living in Germany for International Students, in PKR

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A single student in Germany needs roughly €1,100 a month in a mid-sized university city such as Aachen (about Rs 3.4 lakh) and €1,250 to €1,300 a month in Munich (about Rs 3.9 to 4 lakh), going by the universities' and the student services' own estimates. For the student visa, the German missions in Pakistan ask you to show €992 a month, or €11,904 for a year (about Rs 36.9 lakh), usually in a blocked account.

This guide turns those numbers into rupees, item by item, so a Pakistani family can see what a month really costs. Then it sets each scholarship's monthly payment against them, to show what is left over or what is short. We read every figure on 26 October 2026 on the German missions' pages, university and Studierendenwerk pages, DAAD, the European Commission and a named national rent survey. Prices and stipends change every year, so the official pages are always the final word.

The exchange rate we used

Every rupee figure here uses €1 = Rs 310, the mid-market rate shown by Wise on 26 October 2026 (Rs 310.7, rounded down). Banks and exchange companies in Pakistan sell euros at a higher rate than mid-market, and the rate moves every day. If the rupee weakens, every rupee figure below goes up. Work out your own numbers with today's rate before you transfer money, or use our cost calculator.

What a month costs, item by item

Germany has no single official budget, so we used two universities that publish their own. RWTH Aachen's covers a mid-sized city; for Munich, the most expensive student city, we combined TUM's and the Munich Studierendenwerk's figures with the latest rent survey. Both are for one student with no family.

Monthly cost	Munich	Aachen (RWTH's estimate)
Rent	€850 (Rs 2.6 lakh), the median room in a shared flat	€400 to €600 (Rs 1.2 to 1.9 lakh)
Food	At least €300 (Rs 93 thousand)	€200 to €300 (Rs 62 to 93 thousand)
Health insurance	€141 to €146 (Rs 44 to 45 thousand), public student rate	€100 to €150 (Rs 31 to 47 thousand)
Transport	Usually in your semester fee; the Deutschlandticket is €63 (Rs 19.5 thousand) if you buy it yourself	In your semester fee
Phone, internet and TV fee	€50 to €60 (Rs 15.5 to 18.6 thousand)	€20 to €50 (Rs 6.2 to 15.5 thousand)
Study materials and other	Not listed separately	€70 to €240 (Rs 22 to 74 thousand)
Total	€1,250 to €1,300 (Rs 3.9 to 4 lakh), the Studierendenwerk's average	At least €1,100 (Rs 3.4 lakh)

Where these come from:

Munich: the Munich Studierendenwerk's 2026 information session for TUM master's applicants (dated 1 January 2026) puts average student living costs at €1,250 to €1,300 a month. The TUM Graduate School gives at least €300 for food and €50 to €60 for phone, internet and the radio and TV fee (its page was last updated in October 2024). The rent is the Munich median from the survey below. Added up item by item, Munich comes to around €1,400 (Rs 4.3 lakh), more than the Studierendenwerk's average, because a student in a cheaper hall room pays far less than the market median. Budget at the higher figure until you have a room.
Aachen: RWTH Aachen says to budget at least €1,100 a month, and lists the minimum ranges in the table. Its "other" line combines €20 to €40 for study materials and €50 to €200 for additional costs.
Health insurance: the Techniker Krankenkasse, one of the large public insurers, charges students €141.16 a month from 1 January 2026, or €146.29 from age 23 without children. Health insurance is compulsory for enrolment, so this line can't be skipped.

Rent: the line that decides your budget

Rent is the biggest cost, and it depends almost entirely on the city. The Moses Mendelssohn Institute and WG-Gesucht study for winter semester 2026-27, covering 90 university cities, found these typical rents for a room in a shared flat (a "WG", the most common student home):

City	Room in a shared flat, per month
Munich	€850 (Rs 2.6 lakh)
Berlin	€650 (Rs 2 lakh)
Hamburg	€650 (Rs 2 lakh)
Cologne	€640 (Rs 2 lakh)
Frankfurt am Main	€630 (Rs 1.95 lakh)
Average of all 90 cities	About €510 (Rs 1.6 lakh)
Chemnitz	€305 (Rs 95 thousand)

A hall run by the local Studierendenwerk (the public student services) is usually the cheapest option. TU Chemnitz said on 21 September 2026 that rooms in its Studierendenwerk's halls cost €264.50 to €344.50 a month (Rs 82 thousand to 1.1 lakh). Halls have waiting lists in most cities, so apply as soon as you have your admission letter.

The gap matters. The same student who needs about Rs 4 lakh a month in Munich can live on far less in a smaller eastern city, and the blocked account amount is the same everywhere.

What everyday things cost

Public transport: most universities include a semester ticket in the semester contribution, which DAAD puts at €100 to €350 a semester (Rs 31 thousand to 1.1 lakh), paid at enrolment. Bought on its own, the nationwide Deutschlandticket costs €63 a month (Rs 19.5 thousand) and rises to €66.80 (Rs 20.7 thousand) from 1 January 2027. Deutsche Bahn says the student version's price stays the same for winter semester 2026-27 and summer semester 2027.
The radio and TV fee: Rundfunkbeitrag is €18.36 a month (Rs 5.7 thousand) per home, not per person. In a shared flat, one payment covers everyone, so split it.
Food: cooking at home is the biggest saving. University canteens (Mensa) run by the Studierendenwerk serve subsidised meals.

Costs that surprise Pakistani students

Tuition in some places: DAAD says most public universities charge no tuition, but public universities in Baden-Württemberg charge non-EU students €1,500 a semester (Rs 4.7 lakh), and TUM has charged non-EU students since winter 2024-25 (€4,000 or €6,000 a semester for a master's, Rs 12.4 or 18.6 lakh).
Health insurance from day one: you need it to enrol, and the public student rate above is the usual cost.
Deposits and the first month: landlords usually ask for a deposit before you move in, and you pay the first semester contribution at enrolment. Bring enough for these on top of the first month's blocked account payout.
Winter: a proper coat and shoes are a one-off cost in the first weeks, and heating matters more than students from Karachi or Lahore expect.

The blocked account: what the visa asks you to show

The German Embassy in Islamabad and Consulate General in Karachi say that from 1 January 2025 the amount for the blocked account (Sperrkonto) is €992 a month or €11,904 a year, and that they may ask for up to two years in some cases.

	Per month	For a year
Blocked account for a student visa	€992 (Rs 3.1 lakh)	€11,904 (Rs 36.9 lakh)

This is your own money, not a fee. After you arrive, you can withdraw only a set amount each month, as the Federal Foreign Office explains. The same mission page says a scholarship can count as proof, but only one awarded by HEC among Pakistani scholarships, not one from a Pakistani university. If you have a scholarship, ask the embassy how your award letter will be treated before you open an account.

Two things to notice. First, the visa amount is below the Munich estimate, so it is the minimum you must prove, not a full budget. Second, the federal government's Make it in Germany portal gives a higher figure, €1,091 a month "as of 2026" (Rs 3.4 lakh), for the separate visa to look for a university place. Check the current amount on the mission's page on the day you apply. Our Study in Germany guide covers the visa steps.

How far your scholarship goes

Here is each scholarship's monthly payment set against the estimates above. DAAD scholarships usually also pay health insurance contributions, so for them we compared the stipend with the costs minus about €141 for insurance. "Left" means what remains after the estimate; it is not a promise of savings.

Scholarship	Pays each month	Munich (about €1,250 to €1,300)	Aachen (about €1,100)
DAAD EPOS (master's)	€992, plus insurance	Short by about €120 to €170 (Rs 37 to 53 thousand)	About break-even (about €30 left)
DAAD doctoral grants	€1,300, plus insurance	About €140 to €190 left (Rs 43 to 59 thousand)	About €340 left (Rs 1.05 lakh)
Erasmus Mundus master's	€1,400	About €100 to €150 left (Rs 31 to 47 thousand)	About €300 left (Rs 93 thousand)
Deutschlandstipendium	€300	Short by €950 to €1,000 (Rs 2.9 to 3.1 lakh)	Short by €800 (Rs 2.5 lakh)

DAAD: DAAD's scholarships overview gives €992 a month for students and €1,300 for doctoral candidates, as examples of current rates, with a travel allowance and, in some programmes, family benefits. Other DAAD pages have given €934 for EPOS and €1,400 for some doctorates (see our Germany scholarships guide), so confirm the rate in your award letter. On these estimates, the EPOS stipend is tight in Munich and roughly covers a cheaper city. For a German PhD, start with our email to a professor in Germany.
Erasmus Mundus: the Erasmus+ Programme Guide sets the scholarship at €1,400 a month (Rs 4.3 lakh), as a contribution to travel, visa, installation and living costs, and says programmes can't charge scholarship holders tuition. Because travel and visas come out of the same money, the margin is smaller than it looks. Browse programmes with a German partner on our Erasmus Mundus page.
Deutschlandstipendium: Heidelberg University describes it as €300 a month for high achievers of all nationalities, not linked to income. You apply through your university once enrolled. It covers about a quarter of the costs, so the family still funds the rest and the blocked account.

Can part-time work fill the gap?

Make it in Germany says students may work up to 140 full days or 280 half days a year, or up to 20 hours a week. The Munich Studierendenwerk's 2026 slides give the statutory minimum wage as €13.90 an hour (about Rs 4.3 thousand). Your scholarship may set its own rules on paid work, so check your award's terms. Plan a budget that works without a job, and treat any earnings as extra.

Your next step

Pick your city, take the matching estimate above, and put your own rent and today's exchange rate into our cost calculator so the whole family sees the yearly total in rupees. Then check the blocked account amount on the German mission's page and your scholarship's rate in its official call, because both change. This page is general information, not financial advice; for your own case, ask your university's international office or the embassy.