Demographics of Germany

Population from 1961–2010. In years before 1990, the figures of the FRG and the GDR are combined

The Demographics of Germany were determined also by a series of full Census in Germany, with the most recent held in 1987. Since reunification, German authorities rely on a micro census.

The demography of the Federal Republic of Germany is monitored by the "Statistisches Bundesamt" (Federal Statistical Office of Germany). The population of Germany is approximately 81,880,000, making it the 14th most populous country in the world. Germany's population is characterized by zero or declining growth,^[1] with an aging population and smaller cohort of youths. The total fertility rate was 1.4 in 2011.^[2] Fertility was closely linked to educational achievement (with the less educated women having more children than the educated ones).^[3] Persons, who adhere to no religion, have fewer children than Christians, also studies found that among Christians the more conservative ones had more children than the more liberal ones.^[4][5]

While most child-births in Germany happen within marriage, a growing number of children is born out-of-wedlock. In 2010 the out-of-wedlock-rate was 33 percent, more than twice of what it was in 1990.^[6]

More than 16 million people are of foreign/immigrant descent (first and second generation, including mixed heritage and ethnic German repatriates and their descendants). 96,1% of those reside in western Germany and Berlin.^[7]

About seven million of them are foreign residents, which is defined as those not having German citizenship. The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are the Turkish. Since the 1960s, West and later reunified Germany has been attracting migrants primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, many of whom (or their children) over time acquired German citizenship. While most of these migrations had an economic background, Germany has also been a prime destination for refugees from many developing countries, in part because its constitution long had a clause giving a 'right' to political asylum, but restrictions over the years have since made it less attractive.

Within Germany, there is a long history of East-to-West migrations, starting with the 19th century Ostflucht. After the World War II border shifts and expulsions, the Germans from Eastern Europe and the former eastern territories moved westward to post-war Germany. During the partition of Germany, many Germans from East Germany fled to West Germany for political and also economic reasons. Since Germany's reunification, there are ongoing migrations from the eastern New Länder to the western Old Länder for economic reasons.

Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of students entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools are among the world's best. With a per capita income of about $36.850 Purchasing power parity (in 2009),^[2] Germany is a broadly middle class society. However there has been a strong increase in the children living in poverty in Germany. While in 1965 one in 75 children was on the welfare rolls in 2007 one in 6 was.^[8] Those children live in relative poverty, but not in absolute poverty however. Germans also are very mobile; millions travel abroad each year. The social welfare system provides for universal health care, unemployment compensation, child benefits and other social programmes. Due to Germany's aging population and struggling economy, the welfare system came under a lot of strain in the 1990s. This led the government to adopt a wide-ranging programme of belt-tightening reforms, Agenda 2010, including the labour market reforms known as Hartz I - IV.

Major metropolitan regions

Main article: Metropolitan regions in Germany

Germany officially has eleven metropolitan regions. In 2005 Germany had 82 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

City name	Location	Description	Population (2004)	Largest German ethnic groups	Largest non-German ethnic groups
Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region		Cologne is the largest city of the Rhineland, the very Western part of Germany. Particularly among young Germans, Cologne and Düsseldorf are known for their nightlife and open-minded atmosphere.	11.7 million	Rhinelanders, Westfalians and others	Turks, Poles, Italians, Dutch, French, Arabs, Iranians, South Asians like Indians, and Japanese (large Japanese community in Düsseldorf).[citation needed]
Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region		Frankfurt is the economic and financial center both for Germany and the continental European Union. It boasts a large airport and numerous skyscrapers. Within Germany, the city has a reputation of being very business-oriented, perhaps at the expense of other pursuits.	5.8 million	Hessians and others	Turks, Italians, Dutch, Arabs, Iranians, Greeks, Russians, Poles, Israelis, Koreans, Afghans, and Pakistanis (mostly Pashtun & Panjabi ethnic groups).[citation needed]
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region		Berlin is the capital of Germany and its largest city. Berlin lies in the eastern part of the country and is regarded as one of Europe's most vibrant and ever changing capitals. It is also the 3rd most visited city in Europe. Additionally, it is Germany's most ethnically and culturally diverse city.	4.9 million	Berliners, Prussians, Swabians, Bavarians etc.	Turks, Arabs, Poles, Russians, Albanians, Serbs, Kurds, Vietnamese, Israelis, Chinese, rising number of Africans, Chileans, Brazilians and other Latin Americans.[citation needed]
Munich Metropolitan Region		Munich has Germany's highest standard of living. Countless sporting and leisure opportunities - both in the city and in its picturesque region. Munich is a powerhouse of the German economy and rich in Bavarian culture.	4.7 million	Bavarians, Franconians and others	Turks, Croats, Serbs, Dutch, Afghans, Greeks, Albanians, Macedonians, Italians, Bosnians, Hungarians, Spaniards and Romanians.[citation needed]
Hamburg Metropolitan Region		Hamburg is a free city state and the second largest city in Germany. It has a long tradition for sea trade and civil establishment and is home to Europe's 2nd largest port. The city is proud of its diverse nightlife and music scene centered in and around the famous St. Pauli district. According to European Union Statistics (EUROSTAT) it is Germany's richest city.	4.3 million	Hamburgers, Schleswiger, Holsteiner, Lower Saxons and others	Turks, Russians, Albanians, Dutch, Poles, Pakistanis, Iranians, Macedonians, Chinese, Portuguese, Afghans, Africans[citation needed]
Southern Lower Saxony: Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region		The relatively urban south of Lower Saxony, located on route between the Ruhr area and Berlin, and the route form Hamburg to the south, has been important for logistics, industry, but also developed a strong standing in the service industries.	3.9 million	Lower Saxons, Eastphalians and others	Turks, Poles, Kurds (especially around Celle), Serbs, Ukrainians, Greeks, Russians, Italians (especially in Wolfsburg) and Spanish (Especially in Hanover).[citation needed]
Leipzig-Halle-Dresden (Saxon Triangle)		Also dubbed "City of Heroes", Leipzig is where the 1989 revolution that brought down the Berlin Wall started. Today totally refurbished, it sports Europe's highest density of Art Nouveau architecture.[citation needed] Very lively bar scene, fastest growing economy in Germany.	3.5 million	Saxons and others	Vietnamese, Indians, Poles, Russians, Portuguese, Italians, Iranians, Turks, Dutch, Arabs and Pakistanis.[citation needed]
Stuttgart Metropolitan Region		Stuttgart has a reputation for research, inventions and industry. The German headquarters of many international enterprises are in Stuttgart. This contrasts with the strong rural, down-to-earth attitude of the Stuttgarters throughout the classes. A popular slogan is "We are good at everything. Except speaking High (standard) German."	3.5 million	Swabians and others	Turks, Greeks, Dutch, Italians, Croats, Serbs, French, Chinese, Romanians, Americans and Spaniards.[citation needed]
Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region		Located in the northwestern part of Germany, the main axis contains the cities of Bremen, Delmenhorst and Oldenburg, with the cities of Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven being the northern corners at the north sea. Major rural areas are covered in between these cities. There is a smooth transition to the Hamburg metropolitan area to the east.	2.4 million	Lower Saxons, Frisians and others	Turks, Russians, Poles, Albanians, Serbs, Portuguese, Iranians, Dutch, Americans and Britons.[citation needed]

Ethnic groups

Turkish parade in Berlin

A guest worker from Cuba, working in an East German factory (Chemiefaserkombinat "Wilhelm Pieck"), 1986

A person like Simone Hauswald, who has a German and a Korean parent, is considered a "persons with immigrant background" in German statistics even if they themselves are born in Germany. Another statistical term that is used to classify person with one German and one Asian parent is Eurasian

A family of so called "Spätaussiedler" (repatriates of ethnic German origin), because the parents have been born abroad they will be counted as "persons with immigrant background"

In 2005: Total population = 82 million^[9]

• German citizens = (92%)^[9]
  • Germans of no immigrant background: (81%) 66.7 million^[9]
  • German citizens of immigrant background (including people of partial immigrant background.): (10%)^[9]
• "Foreigners" (persons without German citizenship): (8%)^[10]

In 2009 3.0 million of the persons of immigrant background had Turkish roots, 2.9 million had their roots in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, 1.5 million had their roots in the successor states of former Yugoslavia and 1.5 million had Polish roots.^[11]

In 2008 18.4% of Germans of any age group and 30% of German children had at least one parent born abroad. Median age for Germans with at least one parent born abroad was 33.8 years, while that for Germans, who had two parents born in Germany was 44.6 years.^[12]

Four other sizable groups of people are referred to as "national minorities" (nationale Minderheiten) because they have lived in their respective regions for centuries: Danes, Frisians, Roma and Sinti, and Sorbs. There is a Danish minority (about 50,000, according to government sources) in the northern-most state of Schleswig-Holstein. Eastern and Northern Frisians live at Schleswig-Holstein's western coast, and in the north-western part of Lower Saxony. They are part of a wider community (Frisia) stretching from Germany to the northern Netherlands. The Sorbs, a Slavic people with about 60,000 members (according to government sources), are in the Lusatia region of Saxony and Brandenburg. They are the last remnants of the Slavs that lived in central and eastern Germany since the 7th century.

Until World War II the Poles were recognized as one of the national minorities. In 1924 the Union of Poles in Germany had initiated cooperation between all national minorities in Germany under the umbrella organization Association of National Minorities in Germany. Some of the union members wanted the Polish communities in easternmost Germany (now Poland) to join the newly established Polish nation after World War I.^{[citation needed]} Even before the German invasion of Poland, leading anti-Nazi members of the Polish minority were deported to concentration camps; some were executed at the Piaśnica murder site. Minority rights for Poles in Germany were revoked by Hermann Göring's World War II decree of 27 February 1940, and their property was confiscated. Adolf Hitler was known to also disliked Polish and Slavic peoples and even considered Polish-Germans alike to be Untermenschen along side with Jews and Roma people.^{[citation needed]} Despite the war ended in 1945, the German government never cancelled the Nazi regulations outlawing the union and denying Poles living in Germany their minority rights, and despite being now a signatory to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, continues to deny them. In contrast, Germans living in Poland are recognized as national minority and have granted seats in Polish Parliament.^[13][14]

Roma people have been in Germany since the Middle Ages. They were persecuted by the Nazis, and thousands of Roma living in Germany were killed by the Nazi regime. Nowadays, they are spread all over Germany, mostly living in major cities. It is difficult to estimate their exact number, as the German government counts them as "persons without immigration background" in their statistics. There are also many assimilated Sinti and Roma. A vague figure given by the German Department of the Interior is about 70,000. In the late 1990s, many Roma moved to Germany from Kosovo. In contrast to the old-established Roma population, the majority of them do not have German citizenship, they are classified as immigrants or refugees.

After World War II, 14 million ethnic Germans were expelled from the eastern territories of Germany and homelands outside former German Empire. The accommodation and integration of these Heimatvertriebene in the remaining part of Germany, in which many cities and millions of apartments had been destroyed, was a major effort in the post-war occupation zones and later states of Germany.

Since the 1960s, ethnic Germans from the People's Republic of Poland and Soviet Union (especially from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine), have come to Germany. During the time of Perestroika, and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the number of immigrants increased heavily. Some of these immigrants are of mixed ancestry. During the 10 year period between 1987 and 2001, a total of 1,981,732 ethnic Germans from the FSU immigrated to Germany, along with more than a million of their non-German relatives. After 1997, however Ethnic Slavs or those belonging to Slavic-Germanic mixed origins outnumbered these with only Germanic descent amongst the immigrants. The total number of people currently living in Germany having FSU connection is around 4 to 4.5 million (Including Germans, Slavs, Jews and those of mixed origins), out of that more than 50% is of German descent.^[15][16]

Germany now has Europe's third-largest Jewish population. In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total inflow to more than 200,000 since 1991. Jews have a voice in German public life through the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland. Some Jews from the former Soviet Union are of mixed heritage.

In the year 2000 there were also around 300,000-500,000 Afro-Germans (those who have German citizenship)^[17] and 150,000+ African nationals. Most of them live in Berlin and Hamburg. Numerous persons from Tunisia and Morocco live in Germany, which in most cases do not considers themselve "Afro-Germans" and are not considered "Afro-Germans" by the German public despite the fact they come from Northern Africa, because they look different and have a different culture. However, Germany does not keep any statistics regarding ethnicity or race. Hence, the exact number of Blacks or Afro-Germans in particular, is unknown.

Germany's biggest East Asian minority are the Vietnamese people in Germany. About 40,000 Vietnamese live in Berlin and surroundings. Also there are about 20,000 to 25,000 Japanese people residing in Germany. Some South Asian and Southeast Asian immigration has took place. Nearly 50,000 Indians live in Germany. As of 2008, there were 68,000 Filipino residents and an unknown number of Indonesians residing in Germany.^[18]

Numerous descedants of the so called Gastarbeiter live in Germany. The Gastarbeiter mostly came from Chile, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey (the most numerous non-European and non-Western nationality) and the former Yugoslavia. Also included were Vietnam, Mongolia, North Korea, Angola, Mozambique and Cuba when the former East Germany existed until reunification in 1990.^[19] The (socialist) German democratic republic (East Germany) however had their guest-worker stay in single sex dormitories^[20] Female guest workers had to sign treaties saying that they were not allowed to fall pregnant during their stay in. If they fell pregnant nevertheless they faced forced abortion or deportion.^[21] This is one of the reasons why the vast majority of ethnic minorities today lives in western Germany and also one of the reasons why minorities such as the Vietnamese have the most unusual population pyramid, with nearly all second generation Vietnamese Germans born after 1989.

In German statistics a person, who has at least one parent born abroad will be counted as a person with immigrant background. That is also the case if the other parent is German and the person himself or herself has been born in Germany and holds the German citizenship.^[22] If a person born in Germany holding the German citizenship, for example, has one German and one Korean parent, he or she will be counted "German with Korean immigrant background", "German with (East-)Asian immigrant background" or "Eurasian". Another category used is "East Asian including Eurasian".

Vital statistics since 1900^[23]

Note: territorial changes occurred in 1918/1919, 1921/1922 and 1945/1946.

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)
1900	54 326	1944 139	1199 382	744 757	35.8	22.1	13.7
1901	55 144	1980 313	1140 489	839 824	35.9	20.7	15.2
1902	56 017	1971 735	1088 492	883 243	35.2	19.4	15.8
1903	56 869	1931 078	1135 905	795 173	34.0	20.0	14.0
1904	57 695	1972 847	1128 183	844 664	34.2	19.6	14.6
1905	58 514	1935 153	1158 314	776 839	33.1	19.8	13.3
1906	59 343	1970 477	1078 202	892 275	33.2	18.2	15.0
1907	60 183	1948 933	1084 309	864 624	32.4	18.0	14.4
1908	61 023	1964 052	1100 490	863 562	32.2	18.0	14.2
1909	61 857	1929 278	1062 217	867 061	31.2	17.2	14.0
1910	62 698	1876 778	1016 665	860 113	29.9	16.2	13.7
1911	63 469	1824 729	1097 784	726 945	28.7	17.3	11.5
1912	64 236	1823 636	1000 749	822 887	28.4	15.6	12.8
1913	65 058	1794 750	975 950	818 800	27.6	15.0	12.6
1914	65 860	1775 596	1246 310	529 286	27.0	18.9	8.0
1915	65 953	1353 546	1410 420	-56 874	20.5	21.4	-0.9
1916	65 795	1005 484	1258 054	-252 570	15.3	19.1	-3.8
1917	65 450	912 109	1345 424	-433 315	13.9	20.6	-6.6
1918	64 800	926 813	1606 475	-679 662	14.3	24.8	-10.5
1919	62 897	1260 500	978 380	282 120	20.0	15.6	4.5
1920	61 794	1599 287	932 929	666 358	25.9	15.1	10.8
1921	62 473	1581 130	869 555	711 575	25.3	13.9	11.4
1922	61 890	1425 000	890 000	535 000	23.0	14.4	8.6
1923	62 250	1318 000	867 000	451 000	21.2	13.9	7.2
1924	62 740	1291 000	767 000	524 000	20.6	12.2	8.4
1925	63 110	1311 000	753 000	558 000	20.8	11.9	8.8
1926	63 510	1245 000	743 000	502 000	19.6	11.7	7.9
1927	63 940	1179 000	765 000	414 000	18.4	12.0	6.5
1928	64 470	1200 000	747 000	453 000	18.6	11.6	7.0
1929	64 670	1164 000	815 000	349 000	18.0	12.6	5.4
1930	65 130	1144 000	719 000	425 000	17.6	11.0	6.5
1931	65 510	1048 000	734 000	314 000	16.0	11.2	4.8
1932	65 716	993 000	708 000	285 000	15.1	10.8	4.3
1933	66 027	971 000	738 000	233 000	14.7	11.2	3.5
1934	66 409	1198 350	725 000	473 000	18.0	10.9	7.1
1935	66 871	1263 976	792 018	471 958	18.9	11.8	7.1
1936	67 349	1278 583	795 793	482 790	19.0	11.8	7.2
1937	67 831	1277 046	794 367	482 679	18.8	11.7	7.1
1938	68 424	1348 534	799 220	549 314	19.7	11.7	8.0
1939	69 314	1413 230	854 348	558 882	20.4	12.3	8.1
1940	69 838	1402 258	885 591	516 667	20.1	12.7	7.4
1941	70 244	1308 232	844 435	463 797	18.6	12.0	6.6
1942	70 834	1055 915	847 861	208 054	14.9	12.0	2.9
1943	70 411	1124 718	853 246	271 472	16.0	12.1	3.9
1944	69 000	1215 000	915 000	300 000	17.6	13.3	4.3
1945	66 000	1060 000	1210 000	-150 000	16.1	18.3	-2.3
1946	64 260	921 998	1001 331	-79 333	14.3	15.6	-1.2
1947	65 842	1028 421	932 628	95 793	15.6	14.2	1.5
1948	67 365	1049 074	804 839	244 235	15.6	11.9	3.6
1949	68 080	1106 803	770 852	335 951	16.3	11.3	4.9
1950	68 374	1116 835	748 329	368 506	16.3	10.9	5.4
1951	68 882	1106 608	752 697	353 911	16.1	10.9	5.1
1952	69 171	1105 080	767 637	337 443	16.0	11.1	4.9
1953	69 564	1095 096	790 654	304 442	15.7	11.4	4.4
1954	69 934	1110 028	775 291	334 737	15.9	11.1	4.8
1955	70 307	1113 128	795 938	317 190	15.8	11.3	4.5
1956	70 711	1137 169	812 111	325 058	16.1	11.5	4.6
1957	71 166	1165 555	840 195	325 360	16.4	11.8	4.6
1958	71 637	1175 870	818 418	357 452	16.4	11.4	5.0
1959	72 180	1243 922	835 402	408 520	17.2	11.6	5.7
1960	72 664	1261 614	876 721	384 893	17.4	12.1	5.3
1961	73 352	1313 505	850 300	463 205	17.9	11.6	6.3
1962	74 049	1316 534	878 814	437 720	17.8	11.9	5.9
1963	75 019	1355 595	895 070	460 525	18.1	11.9	6.1
1964	75 273	1357 304	870 319	486 985	18.0	11.6	6.5
1965	76 061	1325 386	907 882	417 504	17.4	11.9	5.5
1966	76 734	1318 303	911 984	406 319	17.2	11.9	5.3
1967	76 954	1272 276	914 417	357 859	16.5	11.9	4.7
1968	77 249	1214 968	976 521	238 447	15.7	12.6	3.1
1969	77 918	1142 368	988 092	154 276	14.7	12.7	2.0
1970	77 772	1047 737	975 664	72 073	13.5	12.5	0.9
1971	78 355	1013 396	965 623	47 773	12.9	12.3	0.6
1972	78 717	901 657	965 689	-64 032	11.5	12.3	-0.8
1973	78 951	815 969	963 034	-147 065	10.3	12.2	-1.9
1974	78 966	805 500	956 573	-151 073	10.2	12.1	-1.9
1975	78 862	782 310	989 649	-207 339	9.9	12.5	-2.6
1976	78 299	798 334	966 873	-168 539	10.2	12.3	-2.2
1977	78 161	805 496	931 155	-125 659	10.3	11.9	-1.6
1978	78 066	808 619	955 550	-146 931	10.4	12.2	-1.9
1979	78 082	817 217	944 474	-127 257	10.5	12.1	-1.6
1980	78 295	865 789	952 371	-86 582	11.1	12.2	-1.1
1981	78 399	862 100	954 436	-92 336	11.0	12.2	-1.2
1982	78 293	861 275	943 832	-82 557	11.0	12.1	-1.1
1983	78 082	827 933	941 032	-113 099	10.6	12.1	-1.4
1984	77 797	812 292	917 299	-105 007	10.4	11.8	-1.3
1985	77 619	813 803	929 649	-115 846	10.5	12.0	-1.5
1986	77 635	848 231	925 411	-77 180	10.9	11.9	-1.0
1987	77 718	867 969	901 291	-33 322	11.2	11.6	-0.4
1988	78 116	892 993	900 627	-7 634	11.4	11.5	-0.1
1989	78 677	880 459	903 441	-22 103	11.2	11.5	-0.3
1990	79 365	905 675	914 361	-15 800	11.4	11.5	-0.2
1991	79 984	830 019	911 245	-81 226	10.4	11.4	-1.0
1992	80 570	809 114	885 443	-76 329	10.0	11.0	-0.9
1993	81 187	798 447	897 270	-98 823	9.8	11.1	-1.2
1994	81 422	769 603	884 659	-115 056	9.5	10.9	-1.4
1995	81 661	765 221	884 588	-119 367	9.4	10.8	-1.5
1996	81 896	796 013	882 843	-86 830	9.7	10.8	-1.1
1997	82 061	812 173	860 389	-48 216	9.9	10.5	-0.6
1998	82 024	785 034	852 382	-67 348	9.6	10.4	-0.8
1999	82 101	770 744	846 330	-75 586	9.4	10.3	-0.9
2000	82 213	766 999	838 797	-71 798	9.3	10.2	-0.9
2001	82 350	734 475	828 541	-94 066	8.9	10.1	-1.1
2002	82 489	719 250	841 673	-122 423	8.7	10.2	-1.5
2003	82 541	706 721	853 946	-147 225	8.6	10.3	-1.8
2004	82 517	705 622	818 271	-112 649	8.6	9.9	-1.4
2005	82 470	685 795	830 227	-144 432	8.3	10.1	-1.8
2006	82 377	672 724	821 627	-148 903	8.2	10.0	-1.8
2007	82 267	684 862	827 155	-142 293	8.3	10.1	-1.7
2008	82 110	682 514	844 439	-161 925	8.3	10.3	-2.1
2009	81 901	665 126	854 544	-189 418	8.1	10.4	-2.3
2010[24]		677 947	858 768	-180 821	8.3	10.5

New federal states

See also: New federal states

About 1.7 million people have left the new federal states since the fall of the Berlin Wall, or 12% of the population,^[25] a disproportionately high number of them were women under 35.^[26]

After 1990, the fertility rate in the East dropped to 0.77. In 2006, the rates in the new states (1.30) are approaching those in the West (1.37).^[27] Since 1989, about 2,000 schools have closed because of a scarcity of children.^[25]

In some regions the number of women between the ages of 20 and 30 has dropped by more than 30 percent.^[25] In 2004, in the age group 18-29 (statistically important for starting families) there were only 90 women for every 100 men in the new federal states (including Berlin).^[27]

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Germany

Further information: Germans Abroad

In its State of World Population 2006 report, the United Nations Population Fund lists Germany with hosting the third-highest percentage of the main international migrants worldwide, about 5% or 10 million of all 191 million migrants.^[28]

Agreements

Germany had previously signed special visa agreements with several countries in times of severe labour shortages or when particular skills were deficient within the country. During the 60s & 70s, agreements were signed with the governments of Turkey, Yugoslavia and Spain to help Germany overcome its severe labour shortage.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Germany

Roman Catholic 31.4%, Evangelical Church in Germany 30.8%, Nonreligious 29.6%, Muslim 5.4%, Orthodox 2%^[29] Roman Catholic is mainly in the South East (Southern Bavaria) and the Far West (Rheinland & Cologne). Strongholds of Protestants are in all Northern States. Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish minority communities are mainly in the big cities.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Germany

German is the only official and most widely spoken language. Standard German is understood throughout the country.

Minority languages

Danish, Low German, the Sorbian languages (Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian), and the two Frisian languages, Saterfrisian and North Frisian, are officially recognized and protected as minority languages by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in their respective regions. With speakers of Romany are living in all parts of Germany, the federal government has promised to take action to protect the language. Until now, only Hesse has followed Berlin's announcement, and agreed on implementing concrete measures to support Romany speakers.

Implementation of the Charter is poor. The monitoring reports on charter implementation in Germany show many provisions unfulfilled.^[30]

Minority language recognition

Protected Minority Languages in Germany

Language	States
Danish	Schleswig-Holstein
North Frisian	Schleswig-Holstein
Saterland Frisian	Lower Saxony
Low German	Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia
Upper Sorbian	Saxony
Lower Sorbian	Brandenburg
Romany	Hesse (see text)

High German dialects

City limits sign; this city is called Emlichheim in High German and Emmelkamp in Low German

German dialects — some quite distinct from the standard language — are used in everyday speech, especially in rural regions. Many dialects, for example the Upper German varieties, are to some degree cultivated as symbols of regional identity and have their own literature, theaters and some few TV programming. While someone speaking dialect outside his home area might be frowned upon, in their original area some dialects can be spoken throughout all social classes. Nevertheless, partly due to Standard German media prevalence, their use has declined over the past century, especially in the younger population.

The status of different German dialects can be very different. The Alemannic and Bavarian dialects of the south are positively valued by the speakers and can be used in almost all social circumstances. The Saxonian and Thuringian dialects have less prestige and are subject to derision. While Bavarian and Alemannic have kept much of their distinctiveness, the Middle German dialects, which are closer to Standard German, lost some of their distinctive lexical and grammatical features and tend to be only pronunciation variants of Standard German.

Low Saxon dialects

Low Saxon is officially recognized as a language on its own, but despite this fact, there's little official action taken on fostering the language. Historically one third of Germany's territory and population was Low Saxon speaking. No data was ever collected on the actual number of speakers, but today the number of speakers ranges around 5 million persons. Despite this relatively high number of speakers there is very little coverage in the media (mostly on NDR TV, no regular programming) and very little education in or on the language. The language is not fixed as part of the school curriculum and Low Saxon is used as a medium of instruction in one school only in the whole Germany (as a "model project" in primary school sided by education in Standard German). As a consequence the younger generation refused to adopt the native language of their parents. Language prevalence dropped from more than 90% (depending on the exact region) in the 1930s to less than 5% today. This accounts for a massive intergenerational gap in language use. Older people regularly use the language and take private initiative to maintain the language, but the lack of innovative potential of the younger generation hinders language maintenance. The language too has an own literature (around 150 published books every year) and there are many theatres (mostly lay stages, but some professional ones, like for example Ohnsorg-Theater).

Use of Low Saxon is mainly restricted to use under acquaintances, like family members, neighbours and friends. A meeting of a village council can be held almost completely in Low Saxon if all participants know each other (as long as written protocols are written in Standard German), but a single foreigner can make the whole switching to Standard German.

The Low Saxon dialects are different in their status too. There's a north-south gradient in language maintenance. The Southern dialects of Westfalian, Eastfalian and Brandenburgish have had much stronger speaker losses, than the northern coastal dialects of Northern Low Saxon. While Eastfalian has lost speakers to Standard German, Westfalian has lost speakers to Standard German and Standard German based regiolect of the Rhine-Ruhr area. Brandenburgish speakers mostly switched to the Standard German based regiolect of Berlin. Brandenburgish is almost completely replaced by the Berlin regiolect. Northern Low Saxon speakers switched mostly to pure Standard German.

Foreign languages

English is the most common foreign language and almost universally taught by the secondary level, also taught at elementary level in some states. Other languages taught are French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. Dutch is taught in states bordering the Netherlands and Polish in the case of the eastern states facing Poland. Latin and Ancient Greek are part of the classical education syllabus offered in many secondary schools.

According to a 2004 survey, two-thirds of Germany's citizens have at least basic knowledge of English. About 20% consider themselves to be speakers of French, followed by speakers of Russian (7%), Italian (6.1%), and Spanish (5.6%). The relatively high number of Russian speakers is a result of massive immigration from the former Soviet Union to Germany for almost 10 consecutive years — more than half of the Germans in the East learned Russian at school.

Literacy

Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write. However, a growing number of inhabitants are functionally illiterate. The young are much more likely to be functionally illiterate than the old. According to a study done by the University of Bremen in coorporation with the "Bundesverband Alphabetisierung e.V.", ten percent of youngsters living in Germany are illiterate and one quarter was able to understand only basic level texts.^[31] Illiteracy rates of youngsters vary by ethnic group and parents' socioeconomic class.

Demographic statistics and policies

Change of population by districts between 2007 and 2009, highlighting the continued depopulation of the former East Germany and the growth of German suburbia

two medical students and their triplets in the GDR in 1984; the GDR encouraged birth among college students

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

82,329,758 (July 2010 est.)

Age structure

• 0–14 years: 13.9% (male 5,894,724/female 5,590,373)
• 15–64 years: 66.3% (male 27,811,357/female 26,790,222)
• 65 years and over: 19.8% (male 6,771,972/female 9,542,348) (2007 est.)

• 0–14 years: 13.7% (male 5,768,366/female 5,470,516)
• 15–64 years: 66.1% (male 27,707,761/female 26,676,759)
• 65 years and over: 20.3% (male 7,004,805/female 9,701,551) (2010est.)

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate

4.09 deaths per 1,000 live births (2007)

total: 3.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2010)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 79.26 years (2010)

Total fertility rate

1.38 children born/woman (2008)

1.42 children born/woman (2010 est.)

The Mikrozensus done in 2008 revealed that the number of children a German woman aged 40 to 75 had, was closely linked to her educational achievement.^[3] In Western Germany the most educated women were the most likely to be childless. 26% of those groups stated they were childless, while only 16% of those having an intermediate education, and 11% of those having compulsory education stated the same. In Eastern Germany however, only 9% of the most educated women of that age group and only 7% of those who had a intermediary education were childless, while 12% of those having only compulsory education were childless. The reason for that east-western difference is the fact that the GDR had an "educated mother scheme" and actively tried to encourage first births among the more educated. It did so by propagandizing the opinion that every educated woman should "present at least one child to socialism" and also by financially rewarding its more educated citizen to become parents. The government especially tried to persuade students to become parents while still in college and it was quite successful in doing so. In 1986 38% of all women, who were about to graduate from college, were mothers of at least one child and additional 14% were pregnant and 43% of all men, who were about to graduate from college, were fathers of at least one child. There was a sharp decline in the birth rate and especially in the birth rate of the educated after the fall of the Berlin wall. Nowadays only 5% of those about to graduate from college are parents.

The more educated a Western German mother aged 40 to 75 is, the less likely she is to have a big family.

Percent of Western German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 and more children by educational attainment
number of children	compulsory education	intermediary education	highest education
one child	22	30	31
two children	39	48	48
three or more children	39	22	21
[32]

The same is true for a mother living in Eastern Germany.

Percent of Eastern German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 and more children by educational attainment
number of children	compulsory education	intermediary education	highest education
one child	23	33	33
two children	37	46	51
three or more children	40	21	16
[32]

References

1. ^ "Population Handbook, 5th edition". Population Reference Bureau. http://www.prb.org/pdf/PopHandbook_Eng.pdf. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Länderdatenbank Deutschland
3. ^ ^{a b} Statistisches Bundesamt. Mikrozensus 2008. Neue Daten zur Kinderlosigkeit in Deutschland. p. 27ff
4. ^ Michael Blume, Carsten Ramsel, Sven Graupner: Religiosität als demografischer Faktor – Ein unterschätzter Zusammenhang?. Marburg Journal of Religion: Volume 11, No. 1 (June 2006) [www.blume-religionswissenschaft.de/pdf/blume_germ2006.pdf]
5. ^ Michael Blume (2008) Homo religiosus, Gehirn und Geist 04/2009. S. 32–41.
6. ^ Handelsblatt (August 12th 2011): "Familienplanung: Uneheliche Babys im Vormarsch" [1]
7. ^ Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: "Die soziale Situation in Deutschland: Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund I
8. ^ "Sozialhilfe: Kinderarmut nimmt zu". Focus. 15.11.2007
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Germans and foreigners with an immigrant background by Federal Ministry of the Interior [2]
10. ^ Federal Statistics Office - Foreign population
11. ^ Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: "Die soziale Situation in Deutschland - Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund I"
12. ^ Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland: "Leichter Anstieg der Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund". Pressemitteilung Nr.105 vom 11.03.2008
13. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_minority_in_Germany
14. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Poles_in_Germany#World_War_II_and_after
15. ^ http://www.iza.org/iza/en/papers/transatlantic/1_locher.pdf
16. ^ http://www.odessa3.org/journal/pohl.pdf
17. ^ Nina Zimnik: Nicht jeder Deutsche ist automatisch weiß „Hamburger Abendblatt“ vom 15. August 2000
18. ^ http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/mar/12/yehey/top_stories/20080312top6.html
19. ^ http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?id=235
20. ^ Stephan Lanz: "Berlin aufgemischt - abendländisch - multikulturell - kosmopolitisch? Die politische Konstruktion einer Einwanderungsstadt". 2007. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag; p. 113
21. ^ Karin Weiss: "Die Einbindung ehemaliger vietnamesischer Vertragsarbeiterinnen und Vertragsarbeiter in Strukturen der Selbstorganisation", In: Almut Zwengel: "Die "Gastarbeiter der DDR - politischer Kontext und Lebenswelt". Studien zur DDR Gesellschaft; p. 264
22. ^ Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland: Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit. Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund – Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus 2005. Erschienen am 4. Mai 2007
23. ^ Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland
24. ^ http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Content/Statistics/Bevoelkerung/GeburtenSterbefaelle/Tabellen/Content75/BirthDeaths,templateId=renderPrint.psml
25. ^ ^{a b c} Kulish (2009-06-19). "In East Germany, a Decline as Stark as a Wall". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/world/europe/19germany.html. Retrieved October 11, 2009. 
26. ^ "Lack of Women in Eastern Germany Feeds Neo-Nazis". Spiegel International. 2007-05-31. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,485942,00.html. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
27. ^ ^{a b} "The Demographic State of the Nation". Berlin Institute for Population and Development. 2006. http://www.berlin-institut.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Studien/Kurzfassung_demografische_lage_englisch.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
28. ^ United Nations Population Fund: State of World Population 2006
29. ^ Religionen in Deutschland - Mitglieder und Anhänger .::. REMID
30. ^ http://www.coe.int/t/e/legal_affairs/local_and_regional_democracy/regional_or_minority_languages/2_monitoring/2.3_Committee_of_Experts%27_Reports/Germany_2nd_report.pdf
31. ^ Teachers News: "Funktionaler Analphabetismus"
32. ^ ^{a b} Statistisches Bundesamt. Mikrozensus 2008. Neue Daten zur Kinderlosigkeit in Deutschland. p.29

External links

Germany portal

• Homepage of the Federal Statistical Office Germany (in English)
• German demographics in Online-Databank HISTAT (in German, Registration needed)
• Dossier "The Aging Society" of the Goethe-Institut
• Demographic Profile Germany: United in Decline Allianz Knowledge