Net immigration to Germany has fallen sharply
2023 saw significantly more people immigrate to Germany than emigrate. However, the numbers are much lower than the previous year, when many Ukrainians fled to Germany. The migration level remains high, according to statisticians.
The net migration to Germany in the previous year more than halved compared to the record in 2022. Approximately 663,000 more people immigrated to Germany than emigrated, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. In 2022, there were about 1.462 million more immigrants than emigrants due to many refugees from Ukraine. This was the highest migration surplus since the beginning of the time series in 1950.
In the long-term comparison, the net migration remained at a high level despite the significant decline, according to statisticians. It was only surpassed in the years 2022, 2015, and 1992. In total, there were about 1.933 million immigrants, while 1.270 million emigrated from Germany.
Fewer Ukrainians entered the Federal Republic of Germany in the past year due to the Russian attack war. The number of arrivals decreased by 75% to 276,000. "The net migration to Germany from people from European countries was overall declining," added the statisticians. This decreased by 72% to 330,000. Fewer immigrants came, for example, from Romania (-7%), Bulgaria (-14%), and Poland (-1%). However, the number of immigrants from Turkey increased by 56% to 126,000.
Significantly more Syrians, fewer Afghans
People who immigrated from Europe contributed the most to the net migration (plus 330,000). This was followed by people from Asia (plus 287,000) and Africa (plus 61,000). Among the Asian countries, the number of immigrants from Syria increased by 49% to 102,000, while the number from Afghanistan decreased by 12% to 49,000. "The migration from these two countries, as well as in part from Turkey, is in the context of refugee migration and high asylum application numbers," it was stated.
Since 2005, there has been a net outflow of people with German citizenship. The so-called migration loss was slightly lower in the previous year at 74,000 people compared to 83,000 in 2022. The main destinations were Switzerland, Austria, and the United States of America. In this case, 21,000 emigrations were recorded to Switzerland, 13,000 to Austria, and 9,000 to the USA.
In 2023, the net immigration to Germany from Syrian refugees significantly increased by 49%, totaling 102,000, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Despite a decrease in the number of Ukrainian refugees, the immigration level from countries like Afghanistan still remained high, with a 12% reduction to 49,000.
