BMI Foreigners, Refugees and Asylum
Germans and foreigners with an immigrant background
When talking about immigration or an immigrant background, people usually think of foreigners. However, migration goes much further. There are also many German citizens with immigration experience.
As part of its 2005 Microcensus, the Federal Statistical Office for the first time collected information on “people with an immigrant background”. According to this study, 15.3 million people out of a total of 82 million people living in Germany have an immigrant background, which accounts for 19% of the total population, 9% of whom are foreigners and 10% German citizens.
Of this total, approximately 10.4 million people themselves immigrated to Germany. Some 5.5 million of them are foreigners, 3.1 million have acquired German citizenship, and 1.8 million people received German citizenship without a naturalization procedure, such as ethnic German repatriates who began immigrating in 1999 and Polish immigrants who moved to Germany in the 1980s.
Another 4.9 million people did not immigrate themselves, but are affected by migration: 2.8 million of these are Germans with at least one parent who is an ethnic German repatriate, has acquired German citizenship or is a foreigner; 0.5 million who were born in Germany and have received German citizenship; and 1.7 million are foreigners born in Germany.
Further information can be obtained from the Federal Statistical Office.
Foreigners who live permanently in Germany – i.e. who are not tourists or visitors – are registered by the Central Aliens Register. Of these 6.7 million registered foreigners (as per 31 December 2007) one-third are EU citizens and two-thirds are third-country nationals.
* This includes Serbian nationals and persons registered by the Central Aliens Register under the names of the former states “Serbia and Montenegro” and “Yugoslavia”.
Source: Central Aliens Register / Federal Statistical Office
Some 1.4 million foreigners living in Germany – i.e. one in five – were born in Germany. Of those younger than 18, 70% were born in Germany.
Source: Federal Statistical Office
Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Central Aliens Register, Federal Office of Administration, Federal Foreign Office
* The figures for 2007 are not yet available.
As part of its 2005 Microcensus, the Federal Statistical Office for the first time collected information on “people with an immigrant background”. According to this study, 15.3 million people out of a total of 82 million people living in Germany have an immigrant background, which accounts for 19% of the total population, 9% of whom are foreigners and 10% German citizens.
Of this total, approximately 10.4 million people themselves immigrated to Germany. Some 5.5 million of them are foreigners, 3.1 million have acquired German citizenship, and 1.8 million people received German citizenship without a naturalization procedure, such as ethnic German repatriates who began immigrating in 1999 and Polish immigrants who moved to Germany in the 1980s.
Another 4.9 million people did not immigrate themselves, but are affected by migration: 2.8 million of these are Germans with at least one parent who is an ethnic German repatriate, has acquired German citizenship or is a foreigner; 0.5 million who were born in Germany and have received German citizenship; and 1.7 million are foreigners born in Germany.
Further information can be obtained from the Federal Statistical Office.
Foreigners who live permanently in Germany – i.e. who are not tourists or visitors – are registered by the Central Aliens Register. Of these 6.7 million registered foreigners (as per 31 December 2007) one-third are EU citizens and two-thirds are third-country nationals.
Countries of origin
|
European Union
|
2.3 million:
|
Third countries
|
4.4 million:
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy |
528,318
|
Turkey |
1,713,551
|
| Poland |
384,808
|
Serbia* |
468,218
|
| Greece |
294,891
|
Croatia |
225,309
|
| Austria |
175,875
|
Russian Federation |
187,835
|
| The Netherlands |
128,192
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
158,158
|
* This includes Serbian nationals and persons registered by the Central Aliens Register under the names of the former states “Serbia and Montenegro” and “Yugoslavia”.
Foreigners in Germany: Sex, age, and length of stay:
- 49% of foreigners are women, 51% are men.
- 1.0 million foreigners are younger than 18, 3.1 million are aged between 18 and 40, 1.8 million are aged between 41 and 60 and 0.8 million are older than 60.
- One-third of foreigners have lived in Germany for at least 20 years, two-thirds for at least 8 years. Only 17% have lived in Germany for less than 4 years.
Source: Central Aliens Register / Federal Statistical Office
Some 1.4 million foreigners living in Germany – i.e. one in five – were born in Germany. Of those younger than 18, 70% were born in Germany.
Number of people who have moved to Germany or left the country since 1999:
| People moving to German | People leaving Germany | Net immigration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year |
Total
|
of whom:
Foreigners
|
Total
|
of whom:
Foreigners
|
Total
|
of whom:
Foreigners
|
| 1999 |
874,023
|
673,873
|
672,048
|
555,638
|
201,975
|
118,235
|
| 2000 |
841,158
|
649,249
|
674,038
|
562,794
|
167,120
|
86,455
|
| 2001 |
879,217
|
685,259
|
606,494
|
496,987
|
272,723
|
188,272
|
| 2002 |
842,543
|
658,341
|
623,255
|
505,572
|
219,288
|
152,769
|
| 2003 |
768,975
|
601,759
|
626,330
|
499,063
|
142,645
|
102,696
|
| 2004 |
780,175
|
602,182
|
697,633
|
546,966
|
82,542
|
55,216
|
| 2005 |
707,352
|
579,301
|
628,399
|
483,584
|
78,953
|
95,717
|
| 2006 |
661,851
|
558,467
|
639,064
|
483,774
|
22,787
|
74,693
|
Source: Federal Statistical Office
The immigrants include the following groups, among others:
| Year |
Asylum seekers
|
Subsequent immigration of dependent family members
|
Ethnic German repatriates from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
|
Jewish immigrants
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |
95,113
|
70,750
|
104,916
|
18,205
|
| 2000 |
78,564
|
75,888
|
95,615
|
16,538
|
| 2001 |
88,287
|
82,838
|
98,484
|
16,711
|
| 2002 |
71,127
|
85,305
|
91,146
|
19,262
|
| 2003 |
50,563
|
76,077
|
72,885
|
15,442
|
| 2004 |
35,607
|
65,935
|
59,093
|
11,208
|
| 2005 |
28,914
|
53,213
|
35,522
|
5,968
|
| 2006 |
21,029
|
50,300
|
7,747
|
1,079
|
| 2007 |
19,164
|
*
|
5,792
|
2,502
|
Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Central Aliens Register, Federal Office of Administration, Federal Foreign Office
* The figures for 2007 are not yet available.
