Germany has never had more inhabitants than it does now – 83.6 million. But the growth has not come from births, but from immigrants. However, the number of deaths still exceeds the number of births.
At the end of 2024, almost 83.6 million people lived in Germany - more than ever before. Compared to the previous year, the population increased by 121,000 people, or 0.1 percent, according to a press release from the German Statistical Office Destatis.
However, the growth slowed, because a year ago it amounted to another 338,000 people, or 0.4 percent.
Although a figure of around 84 million inhabitants had already been published in 2022, the population census of the same year - a large statistical survey covering the number of inhabitants - showed that the previous estimate was too high. The number of inhabitants was then corrected to 82.7 million. The German Statistical Office calculates the population based on official data on births and deaths.
Still many more dead than babies
The provisional data can serve as a guide, although corrections are still possible. According to these provisional figures, there will be an additional 330,000 deaths in 2024, roughly the same as last year.
The calculation also includes the so-called migration balance - the difference between people who have come and gone from Germany. According to provisional data, this balance fell from 660,000 to 420,000 in 2024. According to the Statistical Office's estimate, the increase in the number of residents - as in the previous year - is due to the fact that more people came than left.
In the western states, the number of inhabitants increased by 0.2 percent, while in the eastern states (excluding Berlin) the number decreased by 0.3 percent. The largest absolute increase in inhabitants was recorded in Bavaria - 73,000 more people. Large increases were also recorded in Berlin and Hamburg, with 0.6 percent each.
The biggest increase in Bavaria
Thuringia (minus 15,000 or minus 0.7 percent), Saxony (minus 12,000 or minus 0.3 percent) and Saxony-Anhalt (minus 9,000 or minus 0.4 percent) had the largest population loss.
The development varies depending on age groups, with the population seen to be moving towards old age: the number of people between 60 and 79 years old increased by 2.2 percent, while the number of those between 40 and 59 years old decreased by 1.4 percent.
The main reason, as explained by experts from the statistical office, is that the generation with a large number of births from 1964 "moved" into the group of 60 to 79-year-olds.
The number of people aged 80 and over also increased (plus 0.2 percent). Thus, on the reference date, 30.5 percent of the population in Germany was 60 years or older.
More and more foreigners
The foreign population grew by 2.3 percent last year to 12.4 million, while the number of German citizens fell by 0.2 percent to 71.2 million. The share of foreigners in the total population thus rose from 14.5 to 14.8 percent. The largest share was in the age group of 20 to 59 - 19.7 percent, while the smallest share was people over 60 - 6.3 percent.
The largest group of foreigners still consists of citizens of Turkey (1.403 million), followed by Ukraine (1.085 million), Syria (889,000), Romania (771,000) and Poland (723,000)./ DW (A2 Televizion)
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