Demographics of Germany

Demographics of Germany
Population pyramid as of 31 December 2019
Population	83,121,363 (31 March 2021)[1]
Growth rate	0.0 (2020)
Birth rate	9.3 births/1,000 population (2020)[2]
Death rate	11.8 deaths/1,000 population (2020)[2]
Life expectancy	81,2 years (2018-2020)[3]
• male	78,64 years
• female	83,40 years
Fertility rate	1.53 children born/woman (2020)[4]
Infant mortality rate	3.46 deaths/1,000 live births (2014)
Net migration rate	1.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014)
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2015)
At birth	1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1.02 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.76 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	noun: German(s) adjective: German
Major ethnic	Germans
Language
Spoken	German, others

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1500	9,200,000	—
1550	12,900,000	+40.2%
1600	16,200,000	+25.6%
1650	10,000,000	−38.3%
1700	14,100,000	+41.0%
1750	17,400,000	+23.4%
1800	21,600,000	+24.1%
1850	33,700,000	+56.0%
1870	39,500,000	+17.2%
1900	55,200,000	+39.7%
1910	63,500,000	+15.0%
1920	62,400,000	−1.7%
1930	66,300,000	+6.2%
1940	70,700,000	+6.6%
1950	69,346,000	−1.9%
1960	73,147,000	+5.5%
1970	78,069,000	+6.7%
1980	78,397,000	+0.4%
1990	79,753,227	+1.7%
2000	82,259,540	+3.1%
2010	81,751,602	−0.6%
2020	83,155,031	+1.7%
Source: DESTATIS (after 1950), Statista (1850−1940 Reich Boundaries),[5] Max Planck Society (1500−1840 Reich Boundaries)[6]

The demography of Germany is monitored by the Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office of Germany). According to the most recent data, Germany's population is 83,121,363 (31 March 2021),^[7] making it the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the nineteenth-most populous country in the world. The total fertility rate was rated at 1.53 in 2020,^[4] which is far below the replacement rate of 2.1. For a long time Germany had one of the world's lowest fertility rates of around 1.3 to 1.4 however there has been a small increase in recent years.^[8] Due to the low birth rate there have been more death than births in Germany in every year since 1972,^[9] which means 2020 was the 49th consecutive year the German population would have decreased without immigration. It is the only country in the world to have such a long-term natural population decline. The decline has been somewhat mitigated by immigration: in 2019 the number of people with a foreign background was 26%.^[10] Under this category there are counted foreigners, naturalized citizens, ethnic German repatriates from east Europe and their children. Until the early 20th century Germany was also a large emigrant nation with 5 million people emigrating to the US alone from Germany in the Kaiserreich boundaries in the 19th century and more than two million in the 20th century plus additional emigrants to Latin America, Canada and eastern Europe. However after World War II immigration began to outweigh emigration, as around 14 million ethnic Germans were expelled from the former eastern Provinces of the Reich and other areas in eastern Europe of whom around 12 million made their way to present day Germany and several hundred thousand to Austria and other countries while several hundred died. Some additional 4.5 million ethnic Germans from eastern Europe repatriated after 1950, especially around the end of the Eastern Bloc and mostly from the former Soviet Union, Poland and Romania.[2][3] Large scale immigration to the BRD began during the time of the Wirtschaftswunder from the 1950s to early 1970s when Germany had a shortage of workers and let in Southern Europeans from countries like Turkey, Italy and Spain on a temporary basis as guest workers. The liberalisation of guest worker legislation allowed many to stay and build a life in the BRD. Another large wave of immigration happened around reunification when a large group of German repatriates but also many refugees arrived mostly from former Yugoslavia due to the Yugoslav War and Bosnian War and from Turkey seeking asylum in Germany. The next large immigration wave began after eastern Expansion of the European Union in 2011 as Eastern Europeans were now allowed to live and work in Germany without a visa. In 2015 Germany took in what was, in EU terms, a relatively large number of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war but also other conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: 476,649 asylum seekers in 2015, 745,545 in 2016 and declining numbers after that.^[11]

Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of students entering university has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools are among the world's best. With a per capita income of about €40,883 in 2018,^[12] Germany is a broadly middle-class society. However, there has been a strong increase in the number of children living in poverty. In 1965, one in 75 children was on the welfare rolls; but by 2007 this had increased to one child in six. These children live in relative poverty, but not necessarily in absolute poverty.^[13] Germans are typically well-travelled, with millions travelling overseas each year. The social welfare system provides for universal health care, unemployment compensation, child benefits and other social programmes. Germany's ageing population and struggling economy strained the welfare system in the 1990s, so the government adopted a wide-ranging programme of - still controversial - belt-tightening reforms, Agenda 2010, including the labour-market reforms known as Hartz concept.

History[]

The contemporary demographics of Germany are also measured by a series of full censuses, with the most recent held in 1987. Since reunification, German authorities rely on a micro census.

Total Fertility Rate from 1800 to 1899[]

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.^[14]

Total fertility rate in Germany^[14]

Years	1800	1801	1802	1803	1804	1805	1806	1807	1808	1809	1810
	5.4	5.40	5.39	5.39	5.38	5.38	5.37	5.37	5.36	5.36	5.35
Years	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815	1816	1817	1818	1819	1820
	5.35	5.34	5.34	5.33	5.33	5.32	5.32	5.33	5.35	5.37
Years	1821	1822	1823	1824	1825	1826	1827	1828	1829	1830
	5.35	5.33	5.31	5.28	5.26	5.17	5.07	4.97	4.88	4.78
Years	1831	1832	1833	1834	1835	1836	1837	1838	1839	1840
	4.80	4.83	4.85	4.88	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9
Years	1841	1842	1843	1844	1845	1846	1847	1848	1849	1850
	4.9	4.95	4.97	5.00	5.02	5.02	5.02	5.01	5.01	5.01
Years	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860
	4.87	4.74	4.60	4.47	4.33	4.45	4.56	4.67	4.79	4.90
Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870
	4.93	4.96	5.00	5.03	5.06	5.09	5.11	5.13	5.16	5.18
Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880
	5.24	5.30	5.35	5.41	5.46	5.38	5.30	5.22	5.14	5.06
Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
	5.14	5.21	5.29	5.28	5.26	5.25	5.23	5.22	5.21	5.20
Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
	5.18	5.17	5.16	5.14	5.11	5.09	5.06	5.04	4.99

Life expectancy from 1875 to 2015[]

Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations.

1875-1950

Years	1875	1885	1895	1905	1911	1915	1925	1935	1946[15]
Life expectancy in Germany	38.5	39.5	42.8	45.5	49.0	40.5	57.4	61.5	60.5

1950-2015

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	67.5	1985–1990	75.0
1955–1960	68.9	1990–1995	76.0
1960–1965	70.0	1995–2000	77.3
1965–1970	70.7	2000–2005	78.6
1970–1975	71.2	2005–2010	79.7
1975–1980	72.3	2010–2015	80.4
1980–1985	73.7	2015-2020	81.1

Source: UN World Population Prospects^[16]

Statistics since 1900[]

Population statistics since 1900.^[17] Territorial changes of Germany occurred in 1918/1919, 1921/1922, 1945/1946 and in 1990.

hide	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rates[fn 1][14][18][19][20]
								All of Germany	FRG	(Former) GDR
1817	25,009,000	987,856	675,243	312,613	39.5	27	12.5
1818	25,369,000	1,002,076	687,500	314,576	39.5	27.1	12.4
1819	25,733,000	1,067,920	717,951	349,969	41.5	27.9	13.6
1820	26,101,000	1,041,430	636,864	404,566	39.9	24.4	15.5
1821	26,473,000	1,080,098	606,232	473,867	40.8	22.9	17.9
1822	26,851,000	1,065,985	660,535	405,450	39.7	24.6	15.1
1823	27,217,000	1,056,020	666,817	389,203	38.8	24.5	14.3
1824	27,571,000	1,064,241	667,218	397,022	38.6	24.2	14.4
1825	27,930,000	1,092,063	684,285	407,778	39.1	24.5	14.6
1826	28,259,000	1,099,275	737,560	361,715	38.9	26.1	12.8
1827	28,558,000	1,030,944	753,931	277,013	36.1	26.4	9.7
1828	28,863,000	1,041,954	767,756	274,199	36.1	26.6	9.5
1829	29,143,000	1,028,748	810,175	218,573	35.3	27.8	7.5
1830	29,392,000	1,043,416	805,341	238,075	35.5	27.4	8.1
1831	29,642,000	1,037,047	901,117	136,353	35.0	30.4	4.6
1900	54,326,000	1,944,139	1,199,382	744,757	35.8	22.1	13.7	4.93
1901	55,144,000	1,980,313	1,140,489	839,824	35.9	20.7	15.2	4.88
1902	56,017,000	1,971,735	1,088,492	883,243	35.2	19.4	15.8	4.82
1903	56,869,000	1,931,078	1,135,905	795,173	34.0	20.0	14.0	4.77
1904	57,695,000	1,972,847	1,128,183	844,664	34.2	19.6	14.6	4.68
1905	58,514,000	1,935,153	1,158,314	776,839	33.1	19.8	13.3	4.60
1906	59,343,000	1,970,477	1,078,202	892,275	33.2	18.2	15.0	4.51
1907	60,183,000	1,948,933	1,084,309	864,624	32.4	18.0	14.4	4.43
1908	61,023,000	1,964,052	1,100,490	863,562	32.2	18.0	14.2	4.34
1909	61,857,000	1,929,278	1,062,217	867,061	31.2	17.2	14.9	4.18
1910	62,698,000	1,876,778	1,016,665	860,113	29.9	16.2	13.7	4.01
1911	63,469,000	1,824,729	1,097,784	726,945	28.7	17.3	11.5	3.85
1912	64,236,000	1,823,636	1,000,749	822,887	28.4	15.6	12.8	3.68
1913	65,058,000	1,794,750	975,950	818,800	27.6	15.0	12.6	3.52
1914	65,860,000	1,775,596	1,246,310	529,286	27.0	18.9	8.0	3.27
1915	65,953,000	1,353,546	1,410,420	-56,874	20.5	21.4	-0.9	3.02
1916	65,795,000	1,005,484	1,258,054	-252,570	15.3	19.1	-3.8	2.76
1917	65,450,000	912,109	1,345,424	-433,315	13.9	20.6	-6.6	2.51
1918	64,800,000	926,813	1,606,475	-679,662	14.3	24.8	-10.5	2.26
1919	62,897,000	1,260,500	978,380	282,120	20.0	15.6	4.5	2.33
1920	61,794,000	1,599,287	932,929	666,358	25.9	15.1	10.8	2.40
1921	62,473,000	1,581,130	869,555	711,575	25.3	13.9	11.4	2.48
1922	61,890,000	1,424,804	890,181	534,623	23.0	14.4	8.6	2.55
1923	62,250,000	1,318,489	866,754	451,735	21.2	13.9	7.2	2.62
1924	62,740,000	1,290,763	766,957	523,806	20.6	12.2	8.4	2.42
1925	63,110,000	1,311,259	753,017	558,242	20.8	11.9	8.8	2.21
1926	63,510,000	1,245,471	742,955	502,516	19.6	11.7	7.9	2.10
1927	63,940,000	1,178,892	765,331	413,561	18.4	12.0	6.5	1.98
1928	64,470,000	1,199,998	747,444	452,554	18.6	11.6	7.0	1.99
1929	64,670,000	1,164,062	814,545	349,517	18.0	12.6	5.4	1.93
1930	65,130,000	1,144,151	718,807	425,344	17.6	11.0	6.5	1.88
1931	65,510,000	1,047,775	734,165	313,610	16.0	11.2	4.8	1.71
1932	65,716,000	993,126	707,642	285,484	15.1	10.8	4.3	1.62
1933	66,027,000	971,174	737,877	233,297	14.7	11.2	3.5	1.58
1934	66,409,000	1,198,350	725,000	473,000	18.0	10.9	7.1	1.93
1935	66,871,000	1,263,976	792,018	471,958	18.9	11.8	7.1	2.03
1936	67,349,000	1,278,583	795,793	482,790	19.0	11.8	7.2	2.07
1937	67,831,000	1,277,046	794,367	482,679	18.8	11.7	7.1	2.09
1938	68,424,000	1,348,534	799,220	549,314	19.7	11.7	8.0	2.25
1939	69,314,000	1,413,230	854,348	558,882	20.4	12.3	8.1	2.39
1940	69,838,000	1,402,258	885,591	516,667	20.1	12.7	7.4	2.40
1941	70,244,000	1,308,232	844,435	463,797	18.6	12.0	6.6	2.25
1942	70,834,000	1,055,915	847,861	208,054	14.9	12.0	2.9	1.83
1943	70,411,000	1,124,718	853,246	271,472	16.0	12.1	3.9	2.00
1944	69,000,000	1,215,000	915,000	300,000	17.6	13.3	4.3	1.89
1945	66,000,000	1,060,000	1,210,000	-150,000	16.1	18.3	-2.3	1.53
1946	64,260,000	921,998	1,001,331	-79,333	14.3	15.6	-1.2	1.65
1947	65,842,000	1,028,421	932,628	95,793	15.6	14.2	1.5	1.92	2.01	1.75
1948	67,365,000	1,049,074	804,839	244,235	15.6	11.9	3.6	1.96	2.07	1.76
1949	68,080,000	1,106,803	770,852	335,951	16.3	11.3	4.9	2.11	2.14	2.03
1950	68,374,000	1,116,701	748,329	368,372	16.3	10.9	5.4	2.14	2.10	2.35
1951	68,882,000	1,106,380	752,697	353,683	16.1	10.9	5.1	2.16	2.06	2.46
1952	69,171,000	1,105,084	767,639	337,445	16.0	11.1	4.9	2.16	2.08	2.42
1953	69,564,000	1,095,029	790,654	304,375	15.7	11.4	4.4	2.15	2.07	2.40
1954	69,934,000	1,109,743	775,291	334,452	15.9	11.1	4.8	2.18	2.12	2.38
1955	70,307,000	1,113,408	795,938	317,470	15.8	11.3	4.5	2.18	2.11	2.38
1956	70,711,000	1,137,169	812,111	325,058	16.1	11.5	4.6	2.22	2.19	2.30
1957	71,166,000	1,165,555	840,195	325,360	16.4	11.8	4.6	2.28	2.28	2.24
1958	71,637,000	1,175,870	818,418	357,452	16.4	11.4	5.0	2.29	2.29	2.22
1959	72,180,000	1,243,922	835,402	408,520	17.2	11.6	5.7	2.36	2.34	2.37
1960	72,664,000	1,261,614	876,721	384,893	17.4	12.1	5.3	2.37	2.37	2.35
1961	73,352,000	1,313,505	850,300	463,205	17.9	11.6	6.3	2.45	2.47	2.42
1962	74,049,000	1,316,534	878,814	437,720	17.8	11.9	5.9	2.44	2.45	2.42
1963	75,019,000	1,355,595	895,070	460,525	18.1	11.9	6.1	2.51	2.52	2.47
1964	75,273,000	1,357,304	870,319	486,985	18.0	11.6	6.5	2.54	2.55	2.48
1965	76,061,000	1,325,386	907,882	417,504	17.4	11.9	5.5	2.50	2.51	2.48
1966	76,734,000	1,318,303	911,984	406,319	17.2	11.9	5.3	2.51	2.54	2.43
1967	76,954,000	1,272,276	914,417	357,859	16.5	11.9	4.7	2.48	2.54	2.34
1968	77,249,000	1,214,968	976,521	238,447	15.7	12.6	3.1	2.38	2.39	2.30
1969	77,918,000	1,142,366	988,092	154,274	14.7	12.7	2.0	2.21	2.20	2.24
1970	77,772,000	1,047,737	975,664	72,073	13.5	12.5	0.9	2.03	1.99	2.19
1971	78,355,000	1,013,396	965,623	47,773	12.9	12.3	0.6	1.96	1.92	2.13
1972	78,717,000	901,657	965,689	-64,032	11.5	12.3	-0.8	1.73	1.72	1.79
1973	78,951,000	815,969	962,988	-147,019	10.3	12.2	-1.9	1.56	1.54	1.58
1974	78,966,000	805,500	956,573	-151,073	10.2	12.1	-1.9	1.53	1.51	1.54
1975	78,862,000	782,310	989,649	-207,339	9.9	12.5	-2.6	1.48	1.45	1.54
1976	78,299,000	798,334	966,873	-168,539	10.2	12.3	-2.2	1.51	1.46	1.64
1977	78,161,000	805,496	931,155	-125,659	10.3	11.9	-1.6	1.51	1.40	1.85
1978	78,066,000	808,619	955,550	-146,931	10.4	12.2	-1.9	1.50	1.38	1.90
1979	78,082,000	817,217	944,474	-127,257	10.5	12.1	-1.6	1.50	1.39	1.90
1980	78,295,000	865,789	952,371	-86,582	11.1	12.2	-1.1	1.56	1.44	1.94
1981	78,399,000	862,100	954,436	-92,336	11.0	12.2	-1.2	1.53	1.43	1.85
1982	78,293,000	861,275	943,832	-82,557	11.0	12.1	-1.1	1.51	1.41	1.86
1983	78,082,000	827,933	941,032	-113,099	10.6	12.1	-1.4	1.43	1.33	1.79
1984	77,797,000	812,292	917,299	-105,007	10.4	11.8	-1.3	1.39	1.29	1.74
1985	77,619,000	813,803	929,649	-115,846	10.5	12.0	-1.5	1.37	1.28	1.73
1986	77,635,000	848,232	925,426	-77,194	10.9	11.9	-1.0	1.41	1.34	1.70
1987	77,718,000	867,969	901,291	-33,322	11.2	11.6	-0.4	1.43	1.37	1.74
1988	78,116,000	892,993	900,627	-7,634	11.4	11.5	-0.1	1.46	1.41	1.67
1989	78,677,000	880,459	903,441	-22,982	11.2	11.5	-0.3	1.42	1.39	1.56
1990	79,365,000	905,675	921,445	-15,770	11.4	11.6	-0.2	1.45	1.45	1.52
1991	79,753,227	830,019	911,245	-81,226	10.4	11.4	-1.0	1.33	1.42	0.98
1992	80,274,564	809,114	885,443	-76,329	10.1	11.0	-1.0	1.29	1.40	0.83
1993	80,974,632	798,447	897,270	-98,823	9.9	11.1	-1.2	1.28	1.39	0.78
1994	81,338,093	769,603	884,661	-115,058	9.5	10.9	-1.4	1.24	1.35	0.77
1995	81,538,603	765,221	884,588	-119,367	9.4	10.8	-1.5	1.25	1.34	0.84
1996	81,817,499	796,013	882,843	-86,830	9.7	10.8	-1.1	1.32	1.40	0.95
1997	82,012,162	812,173	860,389	-48,216	9.9	10.5	-0.6	1.37	1.44	1.04
1998	82,057,379	785,034	852,382	-67,348	9.6	10.4	-0.8	1.36	1.41	1.09
1999	82,037,011	770,744	846,330	-75,586	9.4	10.3	-0.9	1.36	1.41	1.15
2000	82,163,475	766,999	838,797	-71,798	9.3	10.2	-0.9	1.38	1.41	1.21
2001	82,259,540	734,475	828,541	-94,066	8.9	10.1	-1.1	1.35	1.38	1.23
2002	82,440,309	719,250	841,686	-122,436	8.7	10.2	-1.5	1.34	1.37	1.24
2003	82,536,680	706,721	853,946	-147,225	8.6	10.3	-1.8	1.34	1.36	1.26
2004	82,531,671	705,622	818,271	-112,649	8.5	9.9	-1.4	1.36	1.37	1.31
2005	82,500,849	685,795	830,227	-144,432	8.3	10.1	-1.8	1.34	1.36	1.30
2006	82,437,995	672,724	821,627	-148,903	8.2	10.0	-1.8	1.33	1.34	1.30
2007	82,314,906	684,862	827,155	-142,293	8.3	10.0	-1.7	1.37	1.38	1.37
2008	82,217,837	682,514	844,439	-161,925	8.3	10.3	-2.0	1.38	1.37	1.40
2009	82,002,356	665,126	854,544	-189,418	8.1	10.4	-2.3	1.36	1.35	1.40
2010	81,802,257	677,947	858,768	-180,821	8.3	10.5	-2.2	1.39	1.39	1.46
2011	81,751,602	662,685	852,328	-189,643	8.1	10.4	-2.3	1.39	1.38	1.46
2012	80,327,900	673,544	869,582	-196,038	8.4	10.8	-2.4	1.41	1.40	1.48
2013	80,523,746	682,069	893,825	-211,756	8.5	11.1	-2.6	1.42	1.41	1.49
2014	80,767,463	714,927	868,356	-153,429	8.9	10.8	-1.9	1.47	1.47	1.54
2015	81,197,537	737,575	925,200	-187,625	9.1	11.4	-2.3	1.50	1.50	1.56
2016	82,175,684	792,141	910,902	-118,761	9.6	11.1	-1.4	1.59	1.60	1.64
2017	82,521,653	784,901	932,272	-147,371	9.5	11.3	-1.8	1.57	1.58	1.61
2018	82,792,351	787,523	954,874	-167,351	9.5	11.5	-2.0	1.57	1.58	1.60
2019	83,019,213	778,090	939,520	-161,430	9.4	11.3	-1.9	1.54	1.56	1.56
2020	83,166,711	773,144	985,572	-212,428	9.3	11.8	-2.5	1.53	1.55	1.54

In 2020, 586,421 (75.8%) children were born to mothers with German citizenship, while 186,723 (24.2%) children were born to mothers with foreign citizenship.

Current vital statistics[]

^[21]

• Births for January-May 2020 = 310,586
• Births for January-May 2021 = 314,929

• Deaths for January-May 2020 = 412,071
• Deaths for January-May 2021 = 431,868

• Population growth for January-May 2020 = -101,485
• Population growth for January-May 2021 = -116,939

As of January-June 2021, 507,360 people have died in Germany, this is 4% or 19,064 deaths above the 2017-2020 average for the same months. ^[22]

1945–1990[]

After the World War II border shifts and expulsions, the Germans from Central and Eastern Europe and the former eastern territories moved westward to post-war Germany. During the partition of Germany, many Germans from East Germany fled to West Germany for political and economic reasons. Since Germany's reunification, there are ongoing migrations from the eastern New Länder to the western Old Länder for economic reasons.

The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic followed different paths when it came to demographics. The politics of the German Democratic Republic was pronatalistic^[23] while that of the Federal Republic was compensatory.

Fertility in the GDR was higher than that in the FRG. Demographic politics was only one of the reasons. Women in the GDR had fewer "biographic options", young motherhood was expected of them. State funded costfree childcare was available to all mothers.^[24]

Mother's mean age at first birth in East and West Germany

Note: Berlin is included into East Germany for the year 2002 and 2008. Source: Kreyenfeld (2002); Kreyenfeld et al. (2010); HFD Germany (2010)^[25]

Year	1960	1970	1980	1985	2002	2008
West Germany	24.9	23.8	25.0	26.2	27.6	28.7
East Germany	23.0	22.5	22.3	22.3	26.4	27.5

1990–today[]

About 1.7 million people have left the new federal states (the East) since the fall of the Berlin Wall, or 12% of the population;^[26] a disproportionately high number of them were women under 35.^[27]

After 1990, the total fertility rate (TFR) in the East dropped to 0.772 in 1994. This has been attributed to a "demographic shock": people not only had fewer children, they were also less likely to marry or divorce after the end of the GDR; the biographic options of the citizens of the former GDR had increased. Young motherhood seemed to be less attractive and the age of the first birth rose sharply.^[24]

In the following years, the TFR in the East started to rise again, surpassing 1.0 in 1997 and 1.3 in 2004, and reaching the West's TFR (1.37) in 2007. In 2010, the East's fertility rate (1.459) clearly exceeded that of the West (1.385), while Germany's overall TFR had risen to 1.393, the highest value since 1990,^[28][29] which was still far below the natural replacement rate of 2.1 and the birth rates seen under communism. In 2016, the TFR was 1.64 in the East and 1.60 in the West.^[30]

Between 1989 and 2009, about 2,000 schools closed because there were fewer children.^[26]

In some regions the number of women between the ages of 20 and 30 has dropped by more than 30%.^[26] In 2004, in the age group 18-29 (statistically important for starting families) there were only 90 women for every 100 men in the new federal states (the East, including Berlin).

Until 2007 family politics in the federal republic was compensatory, which means that poor families received more family benefits (such as the Erziehungsgeld) than rich ones. In 2007 the so-called Elterngeld was introduced. According to Christoph Butterwegge the Elterngeld was meant to "motivate highly educated women to have more children"; the poor on the other hand were disadvantaged by the Elterngeld, and now received lower child benefits than the middle classes.^[31] The very well-off (who earn more than 250.000 Euro per annum) and those on welfare receive no Elterngeld payments.^[32]

In 2013 the following most recent developments were noticed:^[33]

• The income of families with young children has risen. Persons holding a college degree, persons older than 30 years and parents with only one child benefited the most. Single parents and young parents did not benefit.
• Fathers are becoming more involved in parenting, and 28% of them now take some time off work (3.3 months on average) when their children are born.
• Mothers are more likely to work and as a result less likely to be economically deprived than they used to be.
• The birth rate of college-educated women has risen.

In the new federal states the fertility rate of college-educated women is now higher than that of those without college degrees. Differences in value priorities and the better availability of childcare in the eastern states are discussed as possible reasons.^[34]

In 2019, the non-profit Austrian Institute of Economic Research and the Bertelsmann Stiftung published a study about the economic impact of demographics. The researchers assume a reduction in the per capita income of €3,700 until 2040.^[35]

Demographic statistics[]

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review.^[36]

• One birth every 43 seconds
• One death every 34 seconds
• Net gain of one person every 4 minutes
• One net migrant every 2 minutes

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[20]

Population

80,457,737 (July 2018 est.)

80,594,017 (July 2017 est.)

82,175,700 (2015 estimate)

Age structure

0-14 years: 12.83% (male 5,299,798 /female 5,024,184)

15-24 years: 9.98% (male 4,092,901 /female 3,933,997)

25-54 years: 39.87% (male 16,181,931 /female 15,896,528)

55-64 years: 14.96% (male 5,989,111 /female 6,047,449)

65 years and over: 22.36% (male 7,930,590 /female 10,061,248) (2018 est.)

0–14 years: 12.8% (male 5,304,341/female 5,028,776)

15–24 years: 10.1% (male 4,145,486/female 3,986,302)

25-54 years: 40.5% (male 16,467,975/female 16,133,964)

55-64 years: 14.6% (male 5,834,179/female 5,913,322)

65 years and over: 22.06% (male 7,822,221/female 9,957,451) (2017 est.)

0–14 years: 13.9% (male 5,894,724; female 5,590,373)

15–64 years: 66.1% (male 27,811,357/female 26,790,222)

65 years and over: 19.6% (male 6,771,972/female 9,542,348) (2015 est.)

0–14 years: 13.7% (male 5,768,366/female 5,470,516)

15–64 years: 66.1% (male 27,707,761/female 26,676,759)

65 years and over: 20.3% (male 7,004,805/female 9,701,551) (2010 est.)

Median age

total: 47.4 years. Country comparison to the world: 3rd

male: 46.2 years

female: 48.5 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

8.6 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 213rd

Death rate

11.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 19th

11.7 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.46 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 204th

1.43 children born/woman (2014)

1.42 children born/woman (2013)

1.38 children born/woman (2008)

Net migration rate

1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 56th

1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.17% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 208th

-0.16% (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

29.4 years (2015 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 80.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 34th

male: 78.5 years

female: 83.3 years (2017 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 77.3% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 0.27% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 3.4 deaths/1,000 live births. Country comparison to the world: 205th

male: 3.7 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 3.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)

4.09 deaths per 1,000 live births (2007)

total: 3.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2010)

total population: 81 years (2015)

80 years (2013)

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 52.1

youth dependency ratio: 19.9

elderly dependency ratio: 32.1

potential support ratio: 3.1 (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 17 years

male: 17 years

female: 17 years (2015)

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 7.2%

male: 7.9%

female: 6.5% (2015 est.) Country comparison to the world: 139th

Most childbirths in Germany happen within marriage. Out of 778,080 births in 2019 258,835 were to unmarried parents,^[37] which means that around 33% or one third of the children are out-of-wedlocklog, while two thirds are whithin. This percentage of unmarried birth has long been growing and reached 33% in 2010, more than twice of what it was in 1990.^[38] However in recent years it has started to stagnate or even decrease.

The Mikrozensus done in 2008 revealed that the number of children a German woman aged 40 to 75 had, was closely linked to her educational achievement.^[39] In Western Germany the most educated women were the most likely to be childless. 26% of those groups stated they were childless, while 16% of those having an intermediate education, and 11% of those having compulsory education, stated the same. In Eastern Germany however, 9% of the most educated women of that age group and 7% of those who had an intermediary education were childless, while 12% of those having only compulsory education were childless.

The reason for that east-western difference is that the GDR had an "educated mother scheme" and actively tried to encourage first births among the more educated. It did so by propagandizing the opinion that every educated woman should "present at least one child to socialism" and also by financially rewarding its more educated citizen to become parents. The government especially tried to persuade students to become parents while still in college and it was quite successful in doing so. In 1986 38% of all women, who were about to graduate from college, were mothers of at least one child and additional 14% were pregnant and 43% of all men, who were about to graduate from college, were fathers of at least one child. There was a sharp decline in the birth rate and especially in the birth rate of the educated after the fall of the Berlin wall. Nowadays,^[when?] 5% of those about to graduate from college are parents.

The more educated a Western German mother aged 40 to 75 was in 2008, the less likely she was to have a big family.

Percent of Western German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 or more children by educational attainment
number of children	compulsory education	intermediary education	highest education
one child	22	30	31
two children	39	48	48
three or more children	39	22	21
[40]

The same was true for a mother living in Eastern Germany in 2008.

Percent of Eastern German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 and more children by educational attainment
number of children	compulsory education	intermediary education	highest education
one child	23	33	33
two children	37	46	51
three or more children	40	21	16
[40]

In 2011, this trend was reversed in Eastern Germany, where more highly educated women now had a somewhat higher fertility rate than the rest of the population.^[41]

Persons who said they had no religion tend to have fewer children than those who identify as Christians, and studies also found that conservative-leaning Christians had more children compared to liberal-leaning Christians.^[42][43]

A study done in 2005 in the western German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen by the HDZ revealed that childlessness was especially widespread among scientists. It showed that 78% of the women scientists and 71% of the male scientists working in that state were childless.^[44]

Ethnic minorities and migrant background (Migrationshintergrund)[]

The Federal Statistical Office defines persons with a migrant background as all persons who migrated to the present area of the Federal Republic of Germany after 1949, plus all foreign nationals born in Germany and all persons born in Germany as German nationals with at least one parent who migrated to Germany or was born in Germany as a foreign national. The figures presented here are based on this definition only.

In 2010, 2.3 million families with children under 18 years were living in Germany, in which at least one parent had foreign roots. They represented 29% of the total of 8.1 million families with minor children. Compared with 2005 – the year when the microcensus started to collect detailed information on the population with a migrant background – the proportion of migrant families has risen by 2 percentage points.^[45] In 2019, 40% children under 5 years old had migrant background.^[46]

Most of the families with a migrant background live in the western part of Germany. In 2010, the proportion of migrant families in all families was 32% in the former territory of the Federal Republic. This figure was more than double that in the new Länder (incl. Berlin) where it stood at 15%.^[45]Eastern Germany has a much lower proportion of immigrants than the West, as the GDR did not let in that many guest workers and Eastern Germany's is not doing as good as West Germany's and had a higher percentage of jobless persons until recently. However in recent years the number of people with an immigrant background in East Germany has been growing as refugees (as well as German Repatriates) are distributed with the Königssteiner Schlüssel, so every German state has to take the same number of them compared to its population and economy. In 2019 19.036 million people or 89,6% of people with an immigrant background live in Western Germany (excluding Berlin), being 28,7% of its population, while 1.016 million people with immigrant background 4,8% live in Eastern States, being 8,2% of population, and 1.194 million people with an immigrant background 5,6% live in Berlin, being 33,1% of its population.^[46]

In 2019, 26% of Germans of any age group (up from 18,4% in 2008) and 39% of German children (up from 30% in 2008) had at least one parent born abroad. Average age for Germans with at least one parent born abroad was 35.6 years (up from 33.8 years in 2008), while that for Germans, who had two parents born in Germany was 47.3 years (up from 44.6 in 2008). ^[46][47]

The largest groups of people with an immigrant background in Germany are people from Turkey, Poland and Russia.

As of 2019, the population by background was as follows:^[46]

European (excluding people with European background from Africa, America, Oceania and Asia)	90.9	74,392,000
EU-28 States	83.2	68,090,000
German (excluding ethnic German repatriates)[48]	74.0	60,603,000
Polish (including ethnic German repatriates)	2.7	2,237,000
Romanian (including ethnic German repatriates)	1.2	1,018,000
Italian	1.1	873,000
Greek	0.6	453,000
Croat	0.5	416,000
Austrian	0.4	342,000
Bulgarian	0.4	312,000
Spanish	0.3	210,000
Dutch	0.2	193,000
French	0.2	192,000
Other EU member states (primarily Hungarian, Czech, British and Portuguese)	1.5	1,214,000
European Other	7.7	6,302,000
Russian (including ethnic German repatriates)	1.7	1,388,000
Kosovar	0.6	471,100
Bosnian	0.5	438,000
Serb	0.4	329,000
Ukrainian	0.4	314,000
Others (primarily Macedonian, Swiss and Albanian)	0.7	538,000
Asians	5.6	4,600,000
Turkish	3.5	2,824,000
Peoples from Kazakhstan (mainly ethnic German repatriates)	1.5	1,245,000
Syrians	1.0	843,000
Iraqi	0.4	310,000
Afghan	0.4	297,000
Iranian	0.3	237,000
Chinese	0.2	189,000
Vietnamese	0.2	188,000
Others (primarily Indian, Pakistanis and Arabs from other countries)	1.6	1,291,000
African	1.2	988,000
Sub-Saharan African	0.6	529,000
Moroccan	0.3	239,000
Tunisian	0.1	95,000
Algerian	0.1	79,000
Egyptians	0.1	46,000
Americas	0.7	568,000
Americans	0.2	182,000
Australia/Oceania	0.1	45,000
Other/unspecified/mixed	1.5	1,255,000
Population in private households	100	81,848,000

• 

  Simone Hauswald has a migration background due to one side of her parents being foreign-born

• 

  Mesut Özil is classified as having a migrant background because both of his parents were born in Turkey

• 

  Helene Fischer has a migrant background despite being ethnically German because she was born in the Soviet Union to parents of the German minority in Russia.

Four other sizable groups of people are referred to as "national minorities" (nationale Minderheiten) because they have lived in their respective regions for centuries: Danes, Frisians, Roma and Sinti, and Sorbs. There is a Danish minority (about 50,000, according to government sources) in the northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. Eastern and Northern Frisians live at Schleswig-Holstein's western coast, and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony. They are part of a wider community (Frisia) stretching from Germany to the northern Netherlands. The Sorbs, a Slavic people with about 60,000 members (according to government sources), are in the Lusatia region of Saxony and Brandenburg. They are the last remnants of the Slavs that lived in central and eastern Germany since the 7th century to have kept their traditions and not been completely integrated into the wider German nation.

Until World War II the Poles were recognized as one of the national minorities. In 1924 the Union of Poles in Germany had initiated cooperation between all national minorities in Germany under the umbrella organization Association of National Minorities in Germany. Some of the union members wanted the Polish communities in easternmost Germany (now Poland) to join the newly established Polish nation after World War I.^{[citation needed]} Even before the German invasion of Poland, leading anti-Nazi members of the Polish minority were deported to concentration camps; some were executed at the Piaśnica murder site. Minority rights for Poles in Germany were revoked by Hermann Göring's World War II decree of 27 February 1940, and their property was confiscated.

After the war ended, the German government did not re-implement national minority rights for ethnic Poles. The reason for this is that the areas of Germany which formerly had a native Polish minority were annexed to Poland and the Soviet Union, while almost all of the native German populations (formerly the ethnic majority) in these areas subsequently fled or were expelled by force. With the mixed German-Polish territories now lost, the German government subsequently regarded ethnic Poles residing in what remained of Germany as immigrants, just like any other ethnic population with a recent history of arrival. In contrast, Germans living in Poland are recognized as national minority and have granted seats in Polish Parliament. It must be said, however, that an overwhelming number of Germans in Poland have centuries-old historical ties to the lands they now inhabit, whether from living in territory that once belonged to the German state, or from centuries-old communities. In contrast, most Poles in present-day Germany are recent immigrants, though there are some communities which have been present since the 19th and perhaps even the 18th centuries. Despite protests by some in the older Polish-German communities, and despite Germany being now a signatory to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Germany has so far refused to re-implement minority rights for ethnic Poles, based on the fact that almost all areas of historically mixed German-Polish heritage (where the minority rights formerly existed) are no longer part of Germany and because the vast majority of ethnic Poles now residing in Germany are recent immigrants.

Roma people have been in Germany since the Middle Ages. They were persecuted by the Nazis, and thousands of Roma living in Germany were killed by the Nazi regime. Nowadays, they are spread all over Germany, mostly living in major cities. It is difficult to estimate their exact number, as the German government counts them as "persons without migrant background" in their statistics. There are also many assimilated Sinti and Roma. A vague figure given by the German Department of the Interior is about 70,000. In contrast to the old-established Roma population, the majority of them do not have German citizenship, they are classified as immigrants or refugees.

After World War II, 14 million ethnic Germans were expelled from the eastern territories of Germany and homelands outside the former German Empire. The accommodation and integration of these Heimatvertriebene in the remaining part of Germany, in which many cities and millions of apartments had been destroyed, was a major effort in the post-war occupation zones and later states of Germany.

Since the 1960s, ethnic Germans from the People's Republic of Poland and Soviet Union (especially from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine), have come to Germany. During the time of Perestroika, and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the number of immigrants increased heavily. Some of these immigrants are of mixed ancestry. During the 10-year period between 1987 and 2001, a total of 1,981,732 ethnic Germans from the FSU immigrated to Germany, along with more than a million of their non-German relatives. After 1997, however ethnic Slavs or those belonging to Slavic-Germanic mixed origins outnumbered these with only Germanic descent amongst the immigrants. The total number of people currently living in Germany having FSU connection is around 4 to 4.5 million (Including Germans, Slavs, Jews and those of mixed origins), out of that more than 50% is of German descent.^[49][50]

Germany now has Europe's third-largest Jewish population. In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total inflow to more than 100,000 since 1991.^[51] Jews have a voice in German public life through the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland). Some Jews from the former Soviet Union are of mixed heritage.

In 2019 there were also a growing number of at least 529,000 black Afro-Germans defined as people with an African migrant background.^[46] Out of them more than 400 thousand have a citizenship of a Subsahara-African country,^[52] with others being German citizens. Most of them live in Berlin and Hamburg. Numerous persons from northern African Tunisia and Morocco live in Germany. While they are considered members of a minority group, for the most part, they do not considers themselves "Afro-Germans," nor are most of them perceived as such by the German people. However, Germany does not keep any statistics regarding ethnicity or race. Hence, the exact number of Germans of African descent is unknown.

Germany's biggest East Asian minorities are the Chinese people in Germany, numbering 189,000^[46] and Vietnamese people in Germany, numbering 188,000,^[46]many of whom living in Berlin and eastern Germany. Also there are about 35,000 Japanese citizens residing in Germany.^[53] There are also groups of South Asian and Southeast Asian immigrants. Around 163,000 Indians and 124,000 Pakistanis live in Germany.^[46] Additionally some 30,000 Filipino citizens and more than 20,000 Indonesian citizens reside in Germany.^[53]

Numerous descendants of the so-called Gastarbeiter live in Germany. The Gastarbeiter mostly came from Turkey, Italy, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, the forme Yugoslavia, Tunisia and Chile. Also included were Vietnam, Mongolia, North Korea, Angola, Mozambique and Cuba when the former East Germany existed until reunification in 1990.^[54] The (socialist) German Democratic Republic (East Germany) however had their guest-workers stay in single-sex dormitories.^[55] Female guest workers had to sign contracts saying that they were not allowed to fall pregnant during their stay. If they fell pregnant nevertheless they faced forced abortion or deportation.^[56] This is one of the reasons why the vast majority of ethnic minorities today lives in western Germany and also one of the reasons why minorities such as the Vietnamese have the most unusual population pyramid, with nearly all second-generation Vietnamese Germans born after 1989.

There is strong discrimination against Asian Germans in Germany. In a survey conducted by the Free University of Berlin between October and November 2020, 49% of Asian Germans said they had been discriminated against. In terms of discrimination, 62% were subjected to verbal insults, 11% were subjected to physical attacks such as being pushed, spit on, or sprayed with disinfectant. And 27% were rejected from medical clinics. The biggest problem is that Germans are insensitive to their own sense of discrimination, and most Germans are not aware that discrimination against Asians is taking place in Germany.^[57][58][59]

Foreign nationals in Germany[]

As of 2020, the most common groups of resident foreign nationals in Germany were as follows:^[62]

This list does not include foreigners with German nationality and foreign nationals without resident status.

Rank	Nationality	Population	% of foreign nationals
	Total	11,432,460	100
1	Turkey	1,461,910	12.8
2	Poland	866,690	7.6
3	Syria	818,460	7.2
4	Romania	799,180	7.0
5	Italy	648,360	5.7
6	Croatia	426,845	3.7
7	Bulgaria	388,700	3.4
8	Greece	364,285	3.2
9	Afghanistan	271,805	2.4
10	Serbia	264,565	2.3
11	Russia	263,300	2.3
12	Iraq	259,500	2.3
13	Kosovo	242,855	2.1
14	Hungary	211,460	1.8
15	Bosnia and Herzegovina	211,335	1.8
16	Austria	186,910	1.6
17	Spain	181,645	1.6
18	India	150,840	1.3
19	Netherlands	150,530	1.3
20	China	145,610	1.3
21	Ukraine	145,510	1.3
22	France	140,590	1.2
23	Portugal	138,555	1.2
24	Iran	123,400	1.1
25	North Macedonia	121,115	1.1
26	United States	117,450	1.0
27	Vietnam	103,620	0.9
28	United Kingdom	91,375	0.8
29	Morocco	79,725	0.7
30	Eritrea	75,735	0.7

Genetics of the German native people[]

The most common Y chromosome haplogroups among German males are Haplogroup R1b, followed by Haplogroup I1, and Haplogroup R1a.^[63]

Geography[]

With an estimated 83,2 million inhabitants in December 2020,^[64]Germany is the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ranks as the 19th largest country in the world in terms of population. Its population density stands at 233 inhabitants per square kilometer.

States[]

Germany comprises sixteen states that are collectively referred to as Länder.^[65] Due to differences in size and population the subdivision of these states varies, especially between city-states (Stadtstaaten) and states with larger territories (Flächenländer). For regional administrative purposes four states, namely Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, consist of a total of 19 Government Districts (Regierungsbezirke). As of 2019 Germany is divided into 400 districts (Kreise) on municipal level, these consist of 294 rural districts and 106 urban districts.

Cities[]

v t Largest cities or towns in Germany Statistical offices in Germany (31 December 2018)
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
Berlin Hamburg	1	Berlin	Berlin	3,644,826	11	Bremen	Bremen	569,352	Munich Cologne
	2	Hamburg	Hamburg	1,841,179	12	Dresden	Saxony	554,649
	3	Munich	Bavaria	1,471,508	13	Hannover	Lower Saxony	538,068
	4	Cologne	North Rhine-Westphalia	1,085,664	14	Nuremberg	Bavaria	518,365
	5	Frankfurt	Hesse	753,056	15	Duisburg	North Rhine-Westphalia	498,590
	6	Stuttgart	Baden-Württemberg	634,830	16	Bochum	North Rhine-Westphalia	364,628
	7	Düsseldorf	North Rhine-Westphalia	619,294	17	Wuppertal	North Rhine-Westphalia	354,382
	8	Leipzig	Saxony	587,857	18	Bielefeld	North Rhine-Westphalia	333,786
	9	Dortmund	North Rhine-Westphalia	587,010	19	Bonn	North Rhine-Westphalia	327,258
	10	Essen	North Rhine-Westphalia	583,109	20	Münster	North Rhine-Westphalia	314,319

Metropolitan regions[]

Germany officially has eleven metropolitan regions. In 2005, Germany had 82 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

v t Largest urban agglomerations in Germany Federal Statistical Office of Germany (31 December 2017)
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
Rhine-Ruhr Berlin	1	Rhine-Ruhr	North Rhine-Westphalia	11,108,117	11	Chemnitz	Saxony	873,745	Rhine-Main Stuttgart
	2	Berlin	Berlin	4,544,525	12	Hanover	Lower Saxony	796,298
	3	Rhine-Main	Hesse	3,146,343	13	Dresden	Saxony	790,534
	4	Stuttgart	Baden-Württemberg	3,016,208	14	Saar	Saarland	758,249
	5	Munich	Bavaria	2,374,272	15	Bremen	Bremen	664,603
	6	Hamburg	Hamburg	2,342,356	16	Aachen	North Rhine-Westphalia	655,276
	7	Rhine-Neckar	Baden-Württemberg	1,410,711	17	Karlsruhe	Baden-Württemberg	611,319
	8	Nuremberg	Bavaria	1,228,597	18	Augsburg	Bavaria	543,503
	9	Leipzig	Saxony	1,038,996	19	Freiburg im Breisgau	Baden-Württemberg	332,013
	10	Bielefeld	North Rhine-Westphalia	929,005	20	Kassel	Hesse	330,654

Metropolitan region	Location	Description	Population	Notes
Rhine-Ruhr		The metropolitan area is part of the pan-European Blue Banana mega region and is a significant industrial and commercial hub, home to many of Germany's biggest corporations and contributing as much as 15% to the German GDP. Included in the rather polycentric conurbation are the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Dortmund and Essen served by two of the country's largest airports Düsseldorf Airport and the Cologne Bonn Airport. Particularly among young Germans, Cologne and Düsseldorf are known for their nightlife and open-minded atmosphere.	approx. 10 million	Turks, Poles, Italians, Romanians, Africans, Arabs, Greeks, Dutch, Russians, Serbs, Bulgarians and Spaniards
Berlin/Brandenburg		Berlin is the capital and largest city. It lies in the eastern part of the country, completely surrounded by the rather sparsely populated state of Brandenburg. Berlin is regarded as one of Europe's most open, vibrant and ever changing capitals. The city is arguably the most diverse city in Germany regarding culture and ethnicity. Regarded as an economically weak region of Germany for a long time, it is now transforming itself into the entrepreneurial center of Europe. Dubbed the "Silicon Allee" by insiders of the tech industry, Berlin is home to countless startup companies and one of Germany's densest knowledge hubs with 4 public universities and countless research centers.	approx. 6 million	Turks, Russians, Poles, Africans, Italians, Americans, Vietnamese, Serbs, Arabs, Bulgarians, Romanians, French and Spaniards
Munich		The metropolitan area in and around Munich has one of Germany's highest standard of living. Housing some of the countries largest car and machine companies, it is known for its economic strength mixed with the uniqueness of Bavarian culture, taking up almost the entirety of southern Bavaria. It is the closest metropolitan area to the Alps.	approx. 5.7 million	Turks, Croats, Italians, Poles, Greeks, Austrians, Romanians, Arabs, Africans and Serbs
Rhine-Main		Frankfurt is the financial and commercial center both for Germany and continental Europe. Almost all of Germany's big banks and the ECB have their HQ located inside the city of Frankfurt. Despite not having a population of over a million, it is Germany's only city with a large, visible cluster of skyscrapers. The city is one of Europe's biggest transit hubs with Europe's 4th busiest airport (Frankfurt airport), Germany's second busiest railway stations and one of the EU's most heavily used interchanges.	approx. 5.5 million	Turks, Poles, Italians, African, Croats, Romanians, Greeks, Serbs, Spaniards, Americans, Chinese, Arabs and Indians
Hamburg		Hamburg is the country's second largest city and the biggest Hanseatic city in Europe. It is Europe's 3rd busiest container port with just under 9 million TEUs annually. The city is proud of its diverse nightlife and music scene centered in and around the famous St. Pauli district.	approx. 5.3 million	Turks, Poles, African, Portuguese, Romanians, Russians, Italians and Spaniards
Stuttgart		Stuttgart has a reputation for research, inventions and industry. The German headquarters of many international enterprises are in Stuttgart. This contrasts with the strong rural, down-to-earth attitude of the Stuttgarters throughout the classes. A popular slogan is "We are good at everything. Except speaking High (standard) German."	approx. 5.2 million	Turks, Greeks, Dutch, Italians, Croats, Serbs, French, Chinese, Romanians, Americans and Spaniards.[citation needed]
Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg		The relatively urban south of Lower Saxony, located on route between the Ruhr area and Berlin, and the route form Hamburg to the south, has been important for logistics, industry, but also developed a strong standing in the service industries.	approx. 3.7 million	Turks, Kurds (especially around Celle), Serbs, Ukrainians, Greeks, Russians, Italians (especially in Wolfsburg) and Spanish (Especially in Hanover).[citation needed]
Bremen/Oldenburg		Located in the northwestern part of Germany, the main axis contains the cities of Bremen, Delmenhorst and Oldenburg, with the cities of Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven being the northern corners at the north sea. Major rural areas are covered in between these cities. There is a smooth transition to the Hamburg metropolitan area to the east.	approx. 2.7 million	Turks, Russians, Albanians, Serbs, Portuguese, Iranians, Dutch, Americans and Britons.[citation needed]
Central German Metropolitan Region		The economic region stretches across three federal states. The major city is Leipzig in Saxony, other important cities are Halle/Saale, Gera and Jena. The region is known for its universities and research, for its trade fairs and conventions, as a central distribution hub (Leipzig-Halle-Airport), as center for chemical and industrial production, for the well preserved inner cities and the developed classical and alternative cultural scene. Leipzig is one of the fastest growing cities in Germany with a rising economy.	approx. 2.4 mil	Russians, Poles, Vietnamese, Italians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Chinese, Turks, Portuguese, people from Syria, from Kazakhstan and from Afghanistan.[67]

Immigration[]

The United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as host to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia.^[60] The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are the Turkish. Since the 1960s, West and later reunified Germany has attracted immigrants primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, many of whom (or their children) have acquired German citizenship over time. While most of these immigrants initially arrived as guest workers, changes to guest worker legislation allowed many to stay and to build lives in Germany.

Germany had signed special visa agreements with several countries in times of severe labour shortages or when particular skills were deficient within the country. During the 1960s and 1970s, agreements were signed with the governments of Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy and Spain to help Germany overcome its severe labour shortage.

As of 2012, after Germany fully legalized visa-free immigrants from the eastern states of the EU, the largest sources of net immigration to Germany were other European countries, most importantly Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Greece; notably, in the case of Turkey, German Turks moving to Turkey slightly outnumbered new immigrants in 2012,^[68] however in recent years there are more turkish immigrants than emigrants again.

In 2015, there was a large increase in asylum applications, mainly due to the violent conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: 476,649 asylum applications were counted that year.^[69].This number went up to even 745,545 in 2016 and began to decline after it.^[11]

Education[]

Responsibility for educational oversight in Germany lies primarily with the individual federated states. Since the 1960s, a reform movement has attempted to unify secondary education into a Gesamtschule (comprehensive school); several West German states later simplified their school systems to two or three tiers. A system of apprenticeship called Duale Ausbildung ("dual education") allows pupils in vocational training to learn in a company as well as in a state-run vocational school.^[70]

Optional kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory for at least nine years, depending on the state. Primary education usually lasts for four years and public schools are not stratified at this stage.^[70] In contrast, secondary education includes three traditional types of schools focused on different levels of academic ability: the Gymnasium enrols the most academically promising children and prepares students for university studies; the Realschule for intermediate students lasts six years; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education.^[71]

In addition Germany has a comprehensive school known as the Gesamtschule. While some German schools such as the Gymnasium and the Realschule have rather strict entrance requirements, the Gesamtschule does not have such requirements. They offer college preparatory classes for the students who are doing well, general education classes for average students, and remedial courses for those who aren't doing that well. In most cases students attending a Gesamtschule may graduate with the Hauptschulabschluss, the Realschulabschluss or the Abitur depending on how well they did in school. The percentage of students attending a Gesamtschule varies by Bundesland. In 2007 the State of Brandenburg more than 50% of all students attended a Gesamtschule,^[72] while in the State of Bavaria less than 1% did.

The general entrance requirement for university is Abitur, a qualification normally based on continuous assessment during the last few years at school and final examinations; however there are a number of exceptions, and precise requirements vary, depending on the state, the university and the subject. Germany's universities are recognised internationally; in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2008, six of the top 100 universities in the world are in Germany, and 18 of the top 200.^[73] Nearly all German universities are public institutions, tuition fees in the range of €500 were introduced in some states after 2006, but quickly abolished again until 2014.

Percentage of jobholders holding Hauptschulabschluss, Realschulabschluss or Abitur in Germany^[74]

	1970	1982	1991	2000
Hauptschulabschluss	87,7%	79,3%	66,5%	54,9%
Realschulabschluss	10,9%	17,7%	27%	34,1%
Abitur	1,4%	3%	6,5%	11%

Literacy[]

Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write. However, a growing number of inhabitants are functionally illiterate. The young are much more likely to be functionally illiterate than the old. According to a study done by the University of Bremen in cooperation with the "Bundesverband Alphabetisierung e.V.", 10% of youngsters living in Germany are functionally illiterate and one quarter are able to understand only basic level texts.^[75] Illiteracy rates of youngsters vary by ethnic group and parents' socioeconomic class.

Health[]

The life expectancy in Germany is 81.1 years (78.7 years males, 83.6 years females, 2020 est.).^[76] As of 2009, the principal cause of death was cardiovascular disease, at 42%, followed by malignant tumours, at 25%.^[77] As of 2008, about 82,000 Germans had been infected with HIV/AIDS and 26,000 had died from the disease (cumulatively, since 1982).^[78] According to a 2005 survey, 27% of German adults are smokers.^[78] A 2009 study shows Germany is near the median in terms of overweight and obese people in Europe.^[79]

Religion[]

The national constitutions of 1919 and 1949 guarantee freedom of faith and religion; earlier, these freedoms were mentioned only in state constitutions. The modern constitution of 1949 also states that no one may be discriminated against due to their faith or religious opinions. A state church does not exist in Germany (see Freedom of religion in Germany).^[80]

According to a 1990s poll by Der Spiegel, 45% of Germans believe in God, and a quarter in Jesus Christ.^[84] According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 44% of German citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", 25% responded that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% responded that "they don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". 4% gave no response.^[85]

Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, comprising an estimated 55.1% of the country's population.^[86][87]

Smaller religious groups (less than 1%) include Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism.^[88][86]

The two largest churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), have lost significant number of adherents. In 2019 the Catholic Church accounted for 27.2%^[86][87][89] and the Evangelical Church for 24.9%^[86][87][90] of the population. Orthodox Church has 1.9% and other Christian churches and groups summed up to 1.1% of the population.^[86][88] Since the reunification of Germany, the number of non-religious people has grown and an estimated 38.8% of the country's population are not affiliated with any church or religion.^[86][87][88]

The other religions make up to less than 1% of the population.^[88] Buddhism has around 200,000 adherents (0.2%), Judaism has around 200,000 adherents (0.2%), Hinduism 90,000 (0.1%), Sikhism 75,000 (0.1%) and Yazidis religion (45,000-60,000).^[91] All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (<0.1%) adherents.

Protestantism is concentrated in the north and east and Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. According to the last nationwide census, Protestantism is more widespread among the population with German citizenship; there are slightly more Catholics total because of the Catholic immigrant population (including such groups as Poles and Italians).^[92] The former Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria. Non-religious people, including atheists and agnostics, might make up as many as 55% of the total population, and are especially numerous in the former East Germany and major metropolitan areas.^[93]

Of the roughly 4 million Muslims, most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shi'ites and other denominations.^[94][95] 1.9% of the country's overall population declare themselves Orthodox Christians,^[86] with Serbs, Greeks, Romanians, Ukrainians and Russians being the most numerous.^[96] Germany has Europe's third-largest Jewish population (after France and the United Kingdom).^[97] In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total Jewish population to more than 200,000, compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification. Large cities with significant Jewish populations include Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.^[98] Around 250,000 active Buddhists live in Germany; 50% of them are Asian immigrants.^[99]

2011 Census[]

Census results were as follows:

• Roman Catholic Church: 24,740,380 or 30.8% of the German population;
• Evangelical Church: 24,328,100 or 30.3% of the German population;
• Other, atheist or not specified (including Protestants outside EKD): 31,151,210 or 38.9% of the German population.^[92]

• 

  Evangelical population according to the 2011 Census

• 

  Catholic population according to the 2011 Census

• 

  Non-Christian population according to the 2011 Census (including other religions and not specified)

• 

  Predominant religious group according to the 2011 Census – Catholics are dominant in the south and west, the non-religious (including other religions and not specified) dominate in the east and the large cities and Protestants dominate in north and central parts of Germany

Languages[]

German is the only official and most widely spoken language. Standard German is understood throughout the country.

Minority languages[]

Danish, Low German, Low Rhenish, the Sorbian languages (Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian), and the two Frisian languages, Saterfrisian and North Frisian, are officially recognized and protected as minority languages by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in their respective regions. With speakers of Romany living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to protect the language. Until now, only Hesse has followed Berlin's announcement, and agreed on implementing concrete measures to support Romany speakers.

Implementation of the Charter is poor. The monitoring reports on charter implementation in Germany show many provisions unfulfilled.^{[citation needed]}

Protected Minority Languages in Germany

Language	States
Danish	Schleswig-Holstein
North Frisian	Schleswig-Holstein
Saterland Frisian	Lower Saxony
Low German	Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia
Low Rhenish	North Rhine-Westphalia
Upper Sorbian	Saxony
Lower Sorbian	Brandenburg
Romany	Hesse de facto, de jure in all states (see text)

High German dialects[]

German dialects – some quite distinct from the standard language – are used in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. Many dialects, for example the Upper German varieties, are to some degree cultivated as symbols of regional identity and have their own literature, theaters and some TV programming. While speaking a dialect outside its native region might be frowned upon, in their native regions some dialects can be spoken by all social classes.^{[citation needed]}. Nevertheless, partly due to the prevalence of Standard German in media, the use of dialects has declined over the past century, especially in the younger population.

The social status of different German dialects can vary greatly. The Alemannic and Bavarian dialects of the south are positively valued by their speakers and can be used in almost all social circumstances. The Saxonian and Thuringian dialects have less prestige and are subject to derision. While Bavarian and Alemannic have kept much of their distinctiveness, the Middle German dialects, which are closer to Standard German, have lost some of their distinctive lexical and grammatical features and tend to be only pronunciation variants of Standard German.

Low Saxon dialects[]

Low Saxon is officially recognized as a language on its own, but despite this fact, there's little official action taken on fostering the language. Historically one third of Germany's territory and population was Low Saxon speaking. No data was ever collected on the actual number of speakers, but today the number of speakers ranges around 5 million persons. Despite this relatively high number of speakers there is very little coverage in the media (mostly on NDR TV, no regular programming) and very little education in or on the language. The language is not fixed as part of the school curriculum and Low Saxon is used as a medium of instruction in one school only in the whole Germany (as a "model project" in primary school sided by education in Standard German). As a consequence the younger generation refused to adopt the native language of their parents. Language prevalence dropped from more than 90% (depending on the exact region) in the 1930s to less than 5% today. This accounts for a massive intergenerational gap in language use. Older people regularly use the language and take private initiative to maintain the language, but the lack of innovative potential of the younger generation hinders language maintenance. The language too has an own literature (around 150 published books every year) and there are many theatres (mostly lay stages, but some professional ones, like for example Ohnsorg-Theater).

Use of Low Saxon is mainly restricted to use among acquaintances, like family members, neighbours and friends. A meeting of a village council can be held almost completely in Low Saxon if all participants know each other (as long as written protocols are written in Standard German), but a single foreigner can make the whole switching to Standard German.

The Low Saxon dialects are different in their status too. There's a north–south gradient in language maintenance. The Southern dialects of Westfalian, Eastfalian and Brandenburgish have had much stronger speaker losses, than the northern coastal dialects of Northern Low Saxon. While Eastfalian has lost speakers to Standard German, Westfalian has lost speakers to Standard German and Standard German based regiolect of the Rhine-Ruhr area. Brandenburgish speakers mostly switched to the Standard German-based regiolect of Berlin. Brandenburgish is almost completely replaced by the Berlin regiolect. Northern Low Saxon speakers switched mostly to pure Standard German.

Foreign languages[]

English is the most common foreign language and almost universally taught by the secondary level; it is also taught at elementary level in some states. Other commonly-taught languages are French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. Dutch is taught in states bordering the Netherlands, and Polish in the eastern states bordering Poland.^{[citation needed]} Latin and Ancient Greek are part of the classical education syllabus offered in many secondary schools.

According to a 2004 survey, two-thirds of Germany's citizens have at least basic knowledge of English.^{[citation needed]} About 20% consider themselves to be competent speakers of French, followed by speakers of Russian (7%), Italian (6.1%), and Spanish (5.6%). The relatively high number of Russian speakers is a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany for almost 10 consecutive years, plus its having been learned in school by many older former East Germans as compulsory first foreign language.^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

• Germans
• Census in Germany

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographie Deutschlands.

• Homepage of the Federal Statistical Office Germany (in English)
• German demographics in Online-Databank HISTAT (in German, Registration needed)
• Dossier "The Aging Society" of the Goethe-Institut
• Demographic Profile Germany: United in Decline Allianz Knowledge