Germany Population

Germany has played a key role in world history. The country is the world’s fourth largest economy, and one of the EU’s leading powers.

Key figures and facts

• Capital: Berlin
• Ethnic groups: Germans 92%, Turks 2%, others 6%
• Language: German
• Religion: Catholics 29%, Protestants 27%, Muslims 4%, Orthodox Christians 2%, Other/None/Unspecified 38% (2015)
• Population: 82 114 000 (2017)
• Control Form: Federal Republic
• Area: 357 170 km²
• Currency: euro
• GNP per capita: 48 861 PPP $
• National Day: October 3rd

Population of Germany

Germany’s population is composed of several peoples. Most originate in the old Germanic tribes, the North Sea coastal friezes, the (Lower) Saxons in the north between the Elbe and the Rhine, the Franks in the Rhine area, the Alemans in the southwest and the Bavarians in the southeast. From approximately year 500 AD was landed east of a line from Kiel across the Thuringian Forest to the Bohemian Forest inhabited by Slavs people, who were later displaced eastward. Around 900, the border of the German area ran along the Elbe and Saale rivers, but land reclamation and colonization continued further east until the mid-1300s. The boundary between German and Slavic settlement then remained roughly unchanged until the Second World War. After the defeat in 1945, the areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse were laid under Polish, and North-East Prussia under Soviet administration and the German population were displaced.

Population of Germany by Year (Historical)

Year	Population	Annual Growth Rate	Population Density	Global Rank
2020	83,783,831	0.320%	240.3716	19
2019	83,516,934	0.470%	239.6059	17
2018	83,124,307	0.560%	238.4795	17
2017	82,658,298	0.560%	237.1426	16
2016	82,193,657	0.500%	235.8095	16
2015	81,787,300	0.240%	234.6437	16
2010	80,826,891	-0.190%	231.8884	16
2005	81,602,630	0.050%	234.1139	14
2000	81,400,771	0.060%	233.5348	12
1995	81,138,548	0.520%	232.7825	12
1990	79,053,873	0.350%	226.8016	12
1985	77,691,484	-0.150%	222.8930	11
1980	78,282,989	-0.150%	224.5900	9
1975	78,855,928	0.070%	226.2338	8
1970	78,578,274	0.600%	225.4372	8
1965	76,257,921	0.760%	218.7802	8
1960	73,414,128	0.520%	210.6215	7
1955	71,537,348	0.440%	205.2371	7
1950	69,966,132	0.000%	200.7294	6

Major Cities in Germany by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Berlin	3,426,243
2	Hamburg	1,739,006
3	Munich	1,260,280
4	Koeln	963,284
5	Frankfurt am Main	649,889
6	Essen	592,974
7	Stuttgart	589,682
8	Dortmund	588,351
9	Duesseldorf	572,946
10	Bremen	546,390
11	Hannover	515,029
12	Leipzig	504,860
13	Duisburg	504,247
14	Nuernberg	499,126
15	Dresden	486,743
16	Wandsbek	411,311
17	Bochum	385,618
18	Bochum-Hordel	379,889
19	Wuppertal	360,686
20	Bielefeld	331,795
21	Bonn	313,014
22	Mannheim	307,849
23	Marienthal	286,990
24	Karlsruhe	283,688
25	Hamburg-Nord	279,889
26	Wiesbaden	272,321
27	Muenster	270,073
28	Gelsenkirchen	269,917
29	Aachen	265,097
30	Moenchengladbach	261,631
31	Augsburg	259,085
32	Eimsbuettel	251,796
33	Altona	250,081
34	Chemnitz	247,109
35	Braunschweig	244,604
36	Krefeld	237,873
37	Halle (Saale)	233,996
38	Hamburg-Mitte	233,033
39	Kiel	232,647
40	Magdeburg	229,715
41	Neue Neustadt	226,740
42	Oberhausen	219,065
43	Freiburg	215,855
44	Luebeck	212,096
45	Erfurt	203,143
46	Harburg	202,460
47	Hagen	198,861
48	Rostock	198,182
49	Kassel	194,390
50	Hamm	185,216
51	Mainz	184,886
52	Saarbruecken	181,116
53	Herne	171,997
54	Muelheim	170,889
55	Neukoelln	167,137
56	Osnabrueck	166,351
57	Solingen	164,248
58	Ludwigshafen am Rhein	163,085
59	Leverkusen	162,627
60	Oldenburg	159,107
61	Neuss	152,346
62	Prenzlauer Berg Bezirk	148,767
63	Bezirk Kreuzberg	147,421
64	Potsdam	145,181
65	Heidelberg	143,234
66	Paderborn	142,050
67	Darmstadt	140,274
68	Wuerzburg	133,620
69	Regensburg	129,040
70	Wolfsburg	122,953
71	Recklinghausen	122,327
72	Goettingen	122,038
73	Heilbronn	120,622
74	Ingolstadt	120,547
75	Ulm	120,340
76	Bottrop	119,798
77	Charlottenburg Bezirk	119,746
78	Bergedorf	119,554
79	Pforzheim	119,202
80	Offenbach	119,081
81	Friedrichshain Bezirk	117,718
82	Bremerhaven	117,335
83	Remscheid	117,007
84	Berlin Schoeneberg	116,175
85	Schoneberg Bezirk	115,865
86	Nippes	113,376
87	Reutlingen	112,516
88	Furth	111,914
89	Moers	107,705
90	Koblenz	107,208
91	Siegen	107,131
92	Bergisch Gladbach	106,073
93	Jena	104,601
94	Gera	104,548
95	Marzahn	103,657
96	Hildesheim	102,941
97	Erlangen	102,564
98	Witten	101,136
99	Salzgitter	100,968
100	Trier	100,018
101	Zwickau	98,685
102	Kaiserslautern	98,621
103	Iserlohn	97,799
104	Schwerin	96,530
105	Guetersloh	96,069
106	Wilmersdorf Bezirk	94,002
107	Dueren	93,329
108	Esslingen	92,279
109	Ratingen	91,495
110	Marl	91,287
111	Luenen	90,898
112	Hanau am Main	88,537
113	Velbert	87,558
114	Ludwigsburg	87,492
115	Flensburg	85,727
116	Gesundbrunnen	84,678
117	Cottbus	84,643
118	Wilhelmshaven	84,282
119	Tuebingen	83,305
120	Minden	82,768
121	Villingen-Schwenningen	81,659
122	Konstanz	81,164
123	Mitte	81,094
124	Worms	80,988
125	Lichterfelde	80,038
126	Dorsten	79,870
127	Luedenscheid	79,275
128	Marburg an der Lahn	78,784
129	Neumuenster	78,272
130	Wedding Bezirk	78,179
131	Castrop-Rauxel	77,813
132	Bogenhausen	77,431
133	Dessau	77,204
134	Gladbeck	76,829
135	Arnsberg	76,501
136	Rheine	76,380
137	Viersen	76,042
138	Delmenhorst	75,782
139	Reinickendorf	75,303
140	Bayreuth	74,950
141	Hellersdorf	74,736
142	Troisdorf	74,638
143	Giessen	74,300
144	Bocholt	73,832
145	Detmold	73,569
146	Steglitz Bezirk	72,353
147	Norderstedt	71,328
148	Lueneburg	71,149
149	Celle	70,899
150	Moabit	70,800
151	Dinslaken	70,462
152	Bamberg	69,936
153	Aschaffenburg	68,440
154	Neubrandenburg	67,971
155	Lippstadt	67,108
156	Aalen	66,974
157	Neuwied	66,694
158	Unna	66,623
159	Plauen	66,301
160	Herten	65,195
161	Herford	64,768
162	Grevenbroich	64,668
163	Weimar	64,616
164	Kerpen	64,115
165	Fulda	63,649
166	Dormagen	63,471
167	Bergheim	63,447
168	Garbsen	63,244
169	Wesel	61,574
170	Kempten (Allgaeu)	61,288
171	Schwabisch Gmund	61,227
172	Sindelfingen	61,200
173	Landshut	60,377
174	Rosenheim	60,056
175	Kopenick Bezirk	60,017
176	Brandenburg an der Havel	59,715
177	Ruesselsheim	59,619
178	Berlin Koepenick	59,450
179	Langenfeld	59,267
180	Offenburg	59,127
181	Stralsund	58,865
182	Stolberg	58,763
183	Hameln	58,555
184	Zehlendorf Bezirk	58,358
185	Menden	58,340
186	Friedrichshafen	58,292
187	Goeppingen	57,929
188	Goerlitz	57,640
189	Pankow	57,002
190	Hattingen	56,755
191	Tempelhof Bezirk	56,558
192	Hilden	56,454
193	Sankt Augustin	55,983
194	Eschweiler	55,667
195	Ahlen	55,169
196	Bad Salzuflen	54,788
197	Euskirchen	54,778
198	Meerbusch	54,715
199	Wolfenbuettel	54,629
200	Huerth	54,567
201	Baden-Baden	54,128
202	Schweinfurt	53,901
203	Neustadt	53,873
204	Pulheim	53,651
205	Neu-Hohenschoenhausen	53,263
206	Gummersbach	53,020
207	Waiblingen	52,834
208	Nordhorn	52,692
209	Greifswald	52,620
210	Cuxhaven	52,566
211	Wetzlar	52,545
212	Bergkamen	52,218
213	Bad Homburg vor der Hoehe	51,748
214	Willich	51,732
215	Frankfurt (Oder)	51,580
216	Emden	51,415
217	Neu-Ulm	51,278
218	Lingen	51,199
219	Winterhude	51,186
220	Erftstadt	51,096
221	Neubrueck	50,998
222	Ibbenbueren	50,466
223	Passau	50,449
224	Langenhagen	50,328
225	Schwerte	50,288
226	Speyer	50,232
227	Heidenheim an der Brenz	49,956
228	Berlin Treptow	49,889
229	Peine	49,842
230	Mariendorf	49,806
231	Neunkirchen	49,732
232	Bad Oeynhausen	49,402
233	Lichtenrade	49,378
234	Hof	49,128
235	Friedrichsfelde	48,998
236	Kleve	48,961
237	Ravensburg	48,714
238	Frechen	48,622
239	Elmshorn	48,592
240	Bornheim	48,412
241	Soest	47,926
242	Rastatt	47,795
243	Erkrath	47,704
244	Weissensee	47,582
245	Stuttgart-Ost	47,389
246	Duelmen	47,384
247	Frankenthal	47,327
248	Herzogenrath	47,270
249	Loerrach	46,891
250	Albstadt	46,553
251	Gotha	46,504
252	Melle	46,403
253	Alsdorf	46,229
254	Boeblingen	46,171
255	Gronau	46,050
256	Rheda-Wiedenbrueck	46,012
257	Neustadt am Ruebenberge	45,831
258	Kamen	45,816
259	Leonberg	45,600
260	Singen	45,585
261	Stade	45,523
262	Hennef	45,298
263	Buende	45,292
264	Meiderich	45,186
265	Wismar	45,144
266	Amberg	44,626
267	Erkelenz	44,539
268	Homburg	44,496
269	Straubing	44,469
270	Halle Neustadt	44,404
271	Bruehl	44,026
272	Fellbach	43,824
273	Lehrte	43,809
274	Nordhausen	43,801
275	Lahr	43,752
276	Eisenach	43,735
277	Hoyerswerda	43,570
278	Freiberg	43,559
279	Pirmasens	43,471
280	Goslar	43,449
281	Filderstadt	43,439
282	Suhl	43,398
283	Weinheim	43,214
284	Rodgau	43,204
285	Bad Kreuznach	43,102
286	Monheim am Rhein	42,927
287	Gifhorn	42,889
288	Bruchsal	42,674
289	Rottenburg	42,610
290	Alt-Hohenschoenhausen	42,498
291	Freising	42,459
292	Staaken	42,455
293	Weiden	42,439
294	Kaufbeuren	42,394
295	Oberursel	42,337
296	Nettetal	42,306
297	Kaarst	42,001
298	Wunstorf	41,969
299	Eberswalde	41,869
300	Bautzen	41,861
301	Lemgo	41,832
302	Coburg	41,790
303	Bietigheim-Bissingen	41,658
304	Muelheim	41,600
305	Landau in der Pfalz	41,501
306	Heinsberg	41,394
307	Seevetal	41,155
308	Lankwitz	41,131
309	Koenigswinter	41,053
310	Memmingen	41,024
311	Voelklingen	41,021
312	Borken	40,765
313	Rudow	40,691
314	Oranienburg	40,682
315	Pinneberg	40,466
316	Dreieich	40,256
317	Pirna	40,211
318	Aurich	40,208
319	Barmbek-Nord	40,150
320	Nurtingen	40,099
321	Kirchheim unter Teck	40,095
322	Laatzen	39,927
323	Hueckelhoven	39,717
324	Dachau	39,629
325	Halberstadt	39,618
326	Schorndorf	39,586
327	Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz	39,446
328	Mettmann	39,439
329	Loehne	39,410
330	Kamp-Lintfort	39,379
331	Britz	39,377
332	Bensheim	39,328
333	Siegburg	39,024
334	Gallus	39,019
335	Freital	38,916
336	Ettlingen	38,831
337	Voerde	38,648
338	Warendorf	38,596
339	Sankt Ingbert	38,586
340	Altenburg	38,457
341	Schwabach	38,443
342	Westend	38,390
343	Buckow	38,363
344	Saarlouis	38,222
345	Maintal	38,202
346	Buxtehude	38,081
347	Ahaus	38,054
348	Muehlhausen	37,997
349	Schwedt (Oder)	37,890
350	Neustadt/Sued	37,828
351	Beckum	37,703
352	Haltern	37,677
353	Hofheim am Taunus	37,639
354	Stendal	37,611
355	Wilhelmstadt	37,513
356	Hemer	37,391
357	Falkensee	37,357
358	Buchholz in der Nordheide	37,293
359	Riesa	37,045
360	Wuerselen	36,963
361	Germering	36,723
362	Wermelskirchen	36,705
363	Leinfelden-Echterdingen	36,561
364	Coesfeld	36,520
365	Schwaebisch Hall	36,432
366	Niederkassel	36,369
367	Porta Westfalica	36,253
368	Datteln	36,227
369	Kempen	36,201
370	Lage	35,986
371	Lurup	35,942
372	Gropiusstadt	35,941
373	Backnang	35,667
374	Falkenhagener Feld	35,631
375	Pasing	35,617
376	Wesseling	35,554
377	Emsdetten	35,471
378	Langen	35,305
379	Neu Isenburg	35,182
380	Markisches Viertel	35,119
381	Zweibruecken	35,110
382	Sinsheim	35,108
383	Greven	34,969
384	Uelzen	34,885
385	Bernau bei Berlin	34,755
386	Tuttlingen	34,736
387	Merseburg	34,669
388	Steinfurt	34,490
389	Spandau	34,395
390	Wernigerode	34,352
391	Balingen	34,303
392	Schoenebeck	34,190
393	Tegel	34,176
394	Meppen	34,087
395	Papenburg	34,006
396	Geldern	33,902
397	Kehl	33,898
398	Vegesack	33,889
399	Juelich	33,800
400	Leer	33,775

The largest minority groups in Germany today – apart from immigrants – are approximately 60,000 Sorbians living around the towns of Cottbus and Bautzen in the east and approximately 30,000 Danes in Schleswig-Holstein, especially in and around Flensburg.

Population growth after 1900 is characterized by the two world wars. After the First World War, the population slowly rose and for periods of time stagnated. After the Nazis came to power, measures were taken, among other things. to increase the birth rate, and the population increased noticeably. The land divisions in the east and the division of Germany after the Second World War had dramatic consequences. The entire German population was expelled from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary and from the abandoned areas east of the Oder-Neisse line. Also, there was mass escape from most Eastern European countries. During the end of the war and in the years that followed, the German population east of Oder-Neisse and in Eastern Europe was reduced from 17 to 2.6 million. that families and friends were split and had to live on under two different systems. After the split, the population in East Germany fell, while West Germany experienced strong growth.

The population decline in East Germany, which had 19 million residents in 1948, was primarily due to the large refugee flow to West Germany, especially in the first years after the war. During the period 1944–61, more than 3 million people fled from East to West Germany. Most of those who left East Germany during this period were at their most fertile age. Consequently, a fall in the frequency of births had long-lasting consequences. West Germany, on the other hand, experienced strong population growth in the first years after the war. In the period 1945–50, West Germany received close to 10 million refugees from East Germany, from former German territories in the East and from other parts of Eastern Europe. Throughout the 1950s, the influx of refugees from East Germany stayed up, while the number of refugees/exiles from other areas declined. When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, also stopped the flow of refugees from eastern Germany. In the period 1945–61, a total of 13.5 million people had immigrated to West Germany, the largest refugee stream in European history.

Throughout the 1960s, West Germany experienced an ever-increasing labor deficit, mainly as a result of strong economic growth, increased educational propensity and lower retirement age. The solution became “import” of labor, so-called Gastarbeider. Most came from the Mediterranean countries, with Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy and Greece as the main country. In addition, since the 1980s, a large number of refugees and asylum seekers from more distant countries, such as Iran and Afghanistan, have arrived.. The wars in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s also led to a mass escape from there which primarily went to Germany. The number of asylum seekers reached a peak in 1992 with over 438,000 applications. The requirements were tightened by a new law in 1993, and the number of new applicants has then steadily dropped to 62,000 in 2004.

The political upheavals in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union around 1990 also led to a flood of refugees to Germany, which peaked in the late autumn of 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1989, a total of 842,000 refugees arrived in West Germany, of which 721,000 were of German descent. In the period 1987-94 almost 2 million German “Aussiedler” came from the east. Germany is thus the country in Europe that has welcomed the most immigrants of different categories. In 2006, the country had a total population of approximately 82.4 million of these were approximately 7.5 million foreigners, the largest groups from Turkey (1.75 million), the former Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece, the former Soviet Union and Poland. Ethnically, the population is distributed on an estimated 68 million of German descent and over 14 million with other origins.

Germany has had a negative natural growth since the 1970s (born ÷ dead). This is mainly due to the strong decrease in the birth rate from approximately 17 1960 in 1960 to approximately 8.5 ‰ in 2004, while mortality in the same period has decreased significantly, from approximately 12 ‰ to approximately 10 ‰. Developments in this area have also been different in the two parts of the country. In the 1980s, the GDR had a positive growth, West Germany a negative growth and with such a margin that it overall produced a negative result. Since 1991, the birth deficit has varied between 1.0 1,5 and 1.5 ‰. Because of. immigration nevertheless increased the population until 2003. Since then it has declined slightly because the immigration surplus has declined sharply, from approximately 780,000 in 1992 to approximately 82,000 in 2004.

After the reunification in 1990, well over 1 million people have moved from the former GDR area to West Germany, so that the population in 2004 divided by approximately 65.5 million in West Germany, 13.4 million in East Germany and 3.4 million in total Berlin.

In 2011, Germany had a population density of 229 residents per km², but large geographical differences with the largest population concentration in the Rhein- Ruhr area with a closely related urban area from Bonn and Cologne in the south to Dortmund and Hamm in the northeast. Similar urban regions are the Rhein-Main area with Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden, the Rhein-Neckar area with Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, and the industrial area around Stuttgart. Also the areas around the major Saxon cities of Halle, Leipzig and Chemnitz and around other major cities such as Bremen and Hamburg, Hanover, Dresden, Munich and Nuremberg are very densely populated. Berlin, which had a total population of 3–3.5 million during the entire partition period, has long since resumed its capital functions, but the population has nevertheless not increased significantly (3.5 million in 2012).

Relatively thinly populated are many border areas such as Emsland, Eifel, Hunsrück, Bayerischer Wald and Oberpfalz, but also larger inland areas with relatively poor soil such as Lüneburger Heide and large parts of Brandenburg. The large mountain and forest areas (including the Alps and the Black Forest) are mostly sparsely populated. Also, many areas on both sides of the former border between East and West Germany were heavily depopulated during the partition period. The rural population is in many places gathered in large centers where different services are easily accessible. This is especially true in the eastern states, where such development was promoted through the agricultural policy of the GDR.

Administrative divisions

Location	Capital	Area km²	Residents (2011)
Baden-Wurttemberg	Stuttgart	35,751	10 786 227
Bayern	Munich	70 550	12 595 891
Berlin	–	888	3 501 872
Brandenburg	Potsdam	29 483	2 495 635
Bremen	Bremen	419	661 301
Hamburg	–	755	1 798 836
Hesse	Wiesbaden	21 115	6 092 126
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Schwerin	23 191	1 634 734
Lower Saxony	Hannover	47 613	7 913 502
North Rhine-Westphalia	Dusseldorf	34 092	17 841 956
Rhineland-Palatinate	Mainz	19 854	3 999 117
Saarland	Saarbrücken	2 568	1 013 352
Saxony	Dresden	18 420	4 137 051
Saxony-Anhalt	Magdeburg	20 450	2 313 280
Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel	15 799	2 837 641
Thuringia	Erfurt	16 172	2 221 222