German population stagnates for second year running

For the second year in a row, the population of Germany neither increased nor decreased in 2021. 

83,2 million people call Germany home in 2021

At the end of last year, about as many people lived in Germany as did the year before. According to new estimates from the Federal Statistical Office, approximately 83,2 million people lived in the federal republic as 2021 came to a close - the same as in 2020 and 2019. The numbers are extrapolated from finalised figures from January to October 2021, with final figures due to be published in the summer. 

2020 was the first year in nearly a decade in which the German population did not increase, bringing to a halt the steady years of population growth that had continued virtually without pause since German Reunification in 1990. 

Migration only reason the population did not shrink

According to the statisticians, the only reason that the German population did not decline in 2021 was the fact that more people are immigrating here than emigrating abroad. Approximately 270.000 to 320.000 more people arrived in Germany than left last year. The most common countries of origin for migrants coming to Germany in 2021 were Romania, Syria and Afghanistan. 

“Without these gains from migration, the population would have shrunk [every year] since 1972, since more people have died each year than have been born,” the Federal Statistical Office wrote in a press release. 

More births, but highest number of deaths since 1946

There was a slight uptick in the number of births in Germany recorded in 2021, with the federal republic welcoming the arrival of between 775.000 and 795.000 babies, an increase on the 773.144 recorded in 2020. 

However, the number of deaths also increased, from 985.525 in 2020 to approximately 1,02 million in 2021 - the highest annual number recorded since 1946. This, the statisticians said, is partly down to the coronavirus pandemic and partly down to the fact that, with its rapidly-ageing population, Germany should expect to see deaths increasing.