Although the quality of administrative data of German health insurance is relatively good, administrative data are rarely used for the purpose of health economic evaluations in Germany. Health economic evaluations in Germany have so far mainly been performed based on primary data while in other countries the use of secondary data is quite common. The objective of the article is to give an introduction into the possibilities of performing health economic evaluations based on administrative data. First, we show that German health insurance have data sets that allow the follow-up of patients across all sectors of health care. Subsequently, characteristics of primary data and administrative data of health insurance for the purpose of health economic evaluations are compared. Finally we present an overview of recently performed health economic evaluations based on administrative data in Germany and conclude with lessons from other countries on the use of administrative data and implications for Germany.