One in four: Germany’s immigrant-origin population reaches 21.8 million, new census data shows
Every fourth person in Germany has an immigration history, with the immigrant-origin population surging 67% over two decades to 21.8 million
BERLIN (MNTV) — More than a quarter of Germany’s population now has what the government terms an “immigration history,” according to new data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), underscoring the scale of demographic transformation in Europe’s largest economy over the past two decades.
The figures show that 21.8 million people — 26.3 per cent of a total population of roughly 83.5 million — either immigrated to Germany themselves or were born in the country to two parents who both arrived as migrants since 1950.
The share rose by 0.5 percentage points from 2024, when the figure stood at 25.8 per cent, though the pace of growth has slowed notably compared to previous years.
First and second generation
Of the 21.8 million total, approximately 16.4 million — or 19.8 per cent of the population — are first-generation immigrants who moved to Germany themselves. That category grew by just 1.7 per cent from 2024, a marked deceleration after years of much larger increases driven by successive waves of migration.
A further 5.4 million people, representing 6.5 per cent of the population, are second-generation — born in Germany to two parents who both immigrated after 1950. That second-generation cohort grew by three per cent compared with the previous year.
The broader category of people with a “foreign background” — which includes not only those with an immigration history but also naturalized citizens, ethnic German repatriates from Eastern Europe, and anyone with at least one immigrant parent — stood at 31.1 per cent in 2025.
Under the wider “migration background” definition, which counts anyone with even one immigrant parent, an additional 4.2 million people born in Germany had at least one migrant parent, meaning that taken together, nearly one-third of the population was either a migrant or had at least one migrant parent.
Where they come from
Poland and Turkiye topped the list of origin countries, each accounting for roughly 1.5 million people, followed by Ukraine at 1.3 million, and Russia and Syria at approximately one million each.
Together, these five countries of origin account for 39 per cent of all immigrants living in Germany.
The data reveals striking differences across age groups. Among people aged 25 to 34, more than a third — 36 per cent — have an immigration history, compared to just 14 per cent of those over 65.
On average, people with an immigration history are about nine years younger than the general population, reflecting both the youth of recent arrivals and the ageing of native-born Germans in a country that has recorded more deaths than births every year since 1972.
The educational profile of young immigrants is mixed. Among those aged 25 to 34, a third hold a university degree — roughly in line with the national average. However, 36 per cent have no formal qualifications at all, more than double the rate among the broader population of the same age.
The long-term trajectory is dramatic. Since 2005, the number of people with an immigration history has risen from 13 million to 21.8 million — an increase of 8.8 million, or 67 per cent.
Much of that growth was driven by the 2015 refugee crisis, the subsequent arrival of large numbers of Syrians, and more recently, the displacement of Ukrainians following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
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