A Slight Bump: Germany's Population Soars to Record High in 2024
Record-breaking population resides in Germany currently
Get ready to rub shoulders with plenty more folk! Germany's population saw a slight jump last year, hitting an all-time high of nearly 83.6 million - thanks, you guessed it, to immigration!
The numbers, revealed by the Federal Statistical Office, paint a picture where more people are moving in than packing their bags and leaving. While births dipped, deaths stayed fairly consistent, resulting in a growing population that's becoming increasingly multicultural.
Westward Ho! Population Boom in the West
It's not all peaches and cream, though. The western federal states saw a 0.2% increase, while the eastern ones (excepting Berlin) took a hit of 0.3%. Bavaria claimed the chop-challenge title, welcoming 73,000 new residents. Berlin and Hamburg, newly crowned with a 0.6% increase, followed suit.
On the flip side, Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt experienced a significant drop in population, losing 15,000, 12,000, and 9,000 residents respectively.
The Graying of Germany
As for age, the oldies are rallying, with more folks aged 60 to 79 joining the party (+2.2%), while those between 40 and 59 are thinning out (-1.4%). TheSilverSurfers, as they're known, account for 30.5% of the population now - a number expected to grow as the baby boom generation moves closer to retirement.
Retirees aren't the only ones waving the foreigner flag. The foreign population swelled by 2.3% last year, reaching 12.4 million. The proportion of foreigners is now up to 14.8% - the highest ever. The largest groups are Turks, Ukrainians, Syrians, Romanians, and Poles.
Sources: ntv.de, mbr/dpa
Fun Fact:
- Germany has experienced a natural population decline every year since 1972, yet its population has remained stable or grown slightly due to a high net immigration rate.
Want to Know More?:
- Learn about net migration's impact on Germany's population growth since the 1960s.
- Dig deeper into the reasons behind Germany's low birth rates.
- Explore the historical immigration waves that contributed to Germany's population in recent decades.
In light of the record-breaking population growth in Germany, it's important for both community and employment policies to be updated and inclusive, accommodating the growing multicultural society. Meanwhile, the increasing number of foreign residents calls for attention to politics concerning immigration issues and general-news about this topic.
