The invention relates to an electrical connector, consisting of a connector housing (10) and at least one electrical contact element (1), the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) having a lead content of < 0.1 weight percent. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a contact element from a blank which has a lead content of < 0.1 weight percent, using the following method steps: Loading the blank into a manufacturing machine; producing a pin region or a socket region for electrically contacting another, opposite contact element; producing a fixing region for fixing the contact element in an insulating body; producing a crimp region for electrically connecting a conductor to the contact element or finishing the crimp region if the blank has already been previously prepared on a different machine; and removing the finished contact element from the manufacturing machine.