Big surprise in the 2022 census: The population in Germany has grown less in recent years than previously assumed. This is evident from the results presented in Berlin on Tuesday.
According to this, around 82.7 million people lived in Germany on May 15, 2022, which was around 1.4 million fewer than previously assumed on the basis of the official population forecast, as the President of the Federal Statistical Office, Ruth Brand, explained. The bottom line is a population increase of 2.5 million since 2011.
The census determines the population figures of all 10,786 municipalities in Germany. In 56 percent of these municipalities, there were at least one percent fewer people on May 15, 2022. The population is therefore shrinking there, while elsewhere immigration from Germany and abroad is ensuring growing population numbers.
The deviation from previous assumptions was particularly large for Cologne, where 5.6 percent fewer people lived than expected on the reference date. But Cologne still remains a city with a population of one million, said Thomas Gößl, President of the Bavarian State Office for Statistics.
According to the information, the nationwide deviations from the population projection particularly affect the foreign population. According to the 2022 census, around 10.9 million foreigners lived in Germany on May 15, 2022, which was almost a million fewer than previously officially reported.
One reason for this is that some foreigners have not deregistered in Germany, for example if they are spending their retirement abroad, said Gößl. “The effect is already known from the 2011 census,” said the statistician. “Overall, we have had a high level of mobility since the refugee movements in 2015, which is not easy to map.”
While the deviation nationwide is 8.1 percent, there were significantly greater deviations in the individual regions. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, there are 25 percent fewer foreigners than previously assumed. In Bremen, however, there are 4.4 percent more.
Some of the refugee numbers from Ukraine are already reflected in the statistics. “The reference date in May 2022 is after the first refugee movement from Ukraine,” said Thomas Gößl. To the extent that the asylum seekers were already registered in the register of residents, they are also included in the corresponding statistics.”
In Germany, you do not have to register with the residents’ registration office until three months after your arrival. However, survey results from individual households are also included in the statistics as sample results.
