MigrantoMigration trends in Germany
Europe
13.6M people from around the world have made Germany their home. That's 16.3% of the country population, arriving from 27 different countries
83.5M
Population
13.6M
Immigrants
4.3M
Emigrants
+9.3M
Inflow
Every 6th person in Germany was born abroad
The #2 largest immigrant destination worldwide
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in Germany
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
4.8M immigrants · 3.9M emigrants
1995
- Rose into the 3 biggest immigrant destinations in Europe
- Surge of immigrants from Bosnia — 282K new arrivals
- Migration accounted for 64% of the country's population growth
- The foreign-born population passed 5M residents
2005
- Slipped out of the 3 biggest countries by emigrants in Europe
- Without migration, the population would have declined
2010
- Poland overtook Turkey as the largest source of new arrivals
- Slipped out of the world's 10 largest diasporas
2015
- Became the biggest destination for immigrants in Europe
- Roughly 1 in 10 residents was now foreign-born
2020
- Surge of immigrants from Syria — 483.4K new arrivals
- Surge of immigrants from Afghanistan — 163.7K new arrivals
- The foreign-born population passed 10M residents
Today
- Roughly 1 in 7 residents was now foreign-born
- Surge of immigrants from Ukraine — 1.1M new arrivals
- Since 1990: 8.8M more foreign-born residents and 426.6K more citizens living abroad
Data source: International Migrant Stock 2024 (UN DESA, Population Division)
Ask Migo
Tap a question — our AI assistant answers it in chat, with real migration data
Where to live?
Match a country to your priorities
Living in Germany
See the full country overview