Population growth in Germany

Population development in Germany since 1960

(Data in millions of inhabitants) On average, 2.0 people live together per household in Germany.

Age pyramid on the head

Looking at the age pyramid for Germany, it becomes clear that the younger age groups are not well represented. It follows that the current pension and social policy will have to fight hard in future if it is to provide for the large number of today's 50-60-year-olds when they reach retirement age. This is because the contributions of the younger population will not be forthcoming.

The declining trend in birth rates has now been broken. Since 2015, it has been rising again and is currently at 9.6 births per 1,000 inhabitants per year. Thus, the birth rate with 1.5 to 1.6 children per woman is almost comparable to China's (after the end of the one-child policy).

Nevertheless, the problems remain because those who have not even been born in the last 30 years cannot have children in the next few years. Those who have made it into the world in the past years will only pay taxes and pension contributions in about 20 years - i.e. at least 10 years too late. In addition, there is a disproportionately high number of immigrants, the vast majority of whom also have to be taken care of first, when taxes and social security contributions may be imposed.

Future development

A study by the Institute of the German Economy predicts that the population of Germany will increase to 83 million by 2035. The reasons for this are the currently rising birth rates and immigration from other countries. Following the record growth in 2015 and 2016, the number could even be higher.

In the urban areas, especially Berlin, a drastic increase in population of about 20 percent is expected. In less populated federal states, such as Bavaria, the increase should be only 3-4%. For Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, instead, a population decline of 10 percent is expected.

Birth and death rate in Germany

Population growth is the result of the birth rate, the mortality rate and the migration rate. For example, the year 2021 in the graph: The population in Germany increased by about 35,200 inhabitants. In the same year, the death rate was 12.3 per 1,000 people (~ 1,023,000 deaths) and the birth rate was 9.6 per 1,000 people (~ 798,000 births). As a result, around 260,200 inhabitants have to be added by migration from other countries.

Over the past 10 years, the number of average deaths per year was 930,672 in Germany. The number of births was 752,544 annually.

The changes in births and deaths is displayed in the following graph. All data refer to births or deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.





Birth rate       Death rate