Over One in Four People in Germany Have a ‘Migrant Background’

A refugee shelters from the rain with an umbrella during a "camp-in" hunger strike of refu
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The number of people having a “migrant background” in Germany has hit a record high, with over a quarter of the population, 22.3 million, either hailing from a foreign country or having at least one migrant parent in 2021.

According to a micro-census conducted by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 27.2 per cent of the country’s population has a “migrant background” as of last year.

The size of the migrant background community has increased to 22.3 million in 2021, compared to 21.9 million in the previous year, an increase of two per cent. This is the highest percentage since the survey was first conducted in 2005.

Just over half of people (54 per cent) with a migrant background were born in the country, with the remaining 46 per cent consisting of people who were born in foreign countries.

Those hailing from other European nations made up the largest purporting of people with a migrant background, accounting for 13.9 million people, 7.5 million of whom came from European Union countries.

Nearly one quarter (23 per cent) or 5.1 million people were described as hailing from Asian countries, including 3.5 million from the Middle East. Africans accounted for around 5 per cent, totalling 1.1 million people.

Those hailing from Turkey represented the largest migrant background population of any single country with 12 per cent, with Poland (10 per cent), Russia (6 per cent), Kazakhstan (6 per cent), and Syria (5 per cent) rounding out the top five.

The statistician found that only one per cent of people with a migrant background came from Ukraine, or 308,000 individuals.

However, this figure did not account for the recent influx of refugees from the country. German police have claimed that some 335,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the country since the start of the invasion, yet, the true number is likely higher as many arrive without documents, public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

Even prior to the war in Ukraine, Europe was already bracing for as many as three million Afghan nationals following the disastrous withdrawal of American troops by the Biden administration, leaving the country in the hands of the Islamist Taliban.

By the year 2040, it is expected that at least one-third of the population of Germany will have foreign backgrounds, with major cities, such as Frankfurt, likely to see as much as 70 per cent of their population having a migration background.

The head of migrant research at the Federal Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Herbert Brücker stated in 2019: “Currently, about a quarter of the people in Germany have a migrant background. In 20 years, it will be at least 35 per cent, but could also be more than 40 per cent.”

The migration expert predicted that urban areas will be the main centre for the demographic shift, saying: “In a city like Frankfurt, we’ll have between 65 per cent to 70 per cent,” he added.

Indeed, in 2017, Frankfurt became the first city in Germany to experience a minority-majority, with natives being out populated by those with migrant backgrounds.

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to open the doors to mass migration has not only come with dire economic consequences, but also an increase in violent crime.

Despite this, the recently installed coalition government headed up by leftist Chancellor Olaf School has vowed to open up the country to more chain migration.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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