The Federal Republic of Germany is celebrating 35 years of unity this year.
October 3rd will mark the 35th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany, which occurred in 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.
The Bundesrepublik has seen a number of significant demographic changes since then, including an initial exodus of workers from the former eastern states to the west and waves of immigration more recently.
How has Germany's domestic population shifted?
The population of Germany has grown by 3.8 million people (plus five percent) since 1990. At the end of 1990, 79.8 million people lived in Germany, and at the end of 2024 there were 83.6 million, according to Germany's statistical office (Destatis).
Between the federal states, however, the population has developed differently since German reunification.
Bavaria (+16 percent), Baden-Württemberg (+14 percent), Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (both +13 percent) recorded the strongest population increases, while the former eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt (-26 percent), Thuringia (-20 percent) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (-18 percent) saw the largest population decreases compared to 1990.
In the former eastern states overall (excluding Berlin), the population decreased by 16 percent to 12.4 million between 1990 and 2024, while in the former western states it increased by ten percent to 67.5 million. In total, around 1.2 million more people migrated from east to west than vice versa during this time.
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Since 2010, however, this trend has slowed significantly.
Between 2011 and 2016 a total of around 70,000 people moved from east to west. And then from 2017 to 2022, the trend actually reversed, with more people moving from the former western states to the former eastern states during this time.
In 2023, the trend reversed again but the number of people leaving eastern regions has remained relatively low compared to the years before 2016.
Immigration
More people have immigrated to Germany than have left the country each year since 1991, with a few exceptions.
In 1991, a total of just over 600,000 more people moved to Germany than left Germany. As of 2024, the figure was just over 430,000 people.
For some years in the early 2000s, net immigration slowed down, and in 2008 and 2009 it reversed - with more Germans moving abroad than foreigners immigrating to Germany during those years.
Germany saw its highest net immigration numbers in 2015 and 2016 due to the civil war in Syria, and in 2022 as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
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Fewer babies
Compared to 35 years ago, Germany's birth rate has slowed.
Last year, 677,117 children were born which was approximately 228,558 fewer than in 1990.
The birth rate fell by seven percent in 2024 compared with 1990, from 1.45 to 1.35 children per woman. At the current rate Germany's population would age and shrink over time if not for immigration.
For more information on how Germany's demographics have changed in the past 35 years, check out this special webpage by Destatis.
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