Share of foreign population in Germany
Share of foreign population in Germany stood at 14.9% in 2025, according to Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). It is one of the indicators in the Population and demographic structure table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 1990 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Population and demographic structure table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population and structure | |||||||||||
| Foreign population share | 14.9 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.8 | 13.1 | 12.7 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 11.2 | |
| Women per 1,000 men | 1,027 | 1,027 | 1,028 | 1,031 | 1,027 | 1,027 | 1,027 | 1,027 | 1,027 | 1,028 |
Understanding share of foreign population in Germany
Non-citizen residents are measured as a proportion of the whole in this series, which divides the year-end headcount of foreign nationals by total registered inhabitants. It reports legal citizenship status rather than ethnic origin or cultural background. Specifically, this measure excludes naturalised citizens, ethnic repatriates, and dual nationals holding German citizenship alongside another passport, all of whom are categorized as domestic citizens in official population accounting. It therefore tracks a narrower group than sociological definitions of persons with a migration background.
Reading this ratio accurately requires tracking legal naturalisations alongside cross-border mobility. The numerator expands when foreign nationals arrive from abroad or when children are born to non-citizen parents without acquiring domestic nationality, but it contracts when residents naturalise or emigrate. Naturalisations reduce the foreign share without any physical cross-border movement, transferring individuals from the foreign count directly into the domestic citizen count. Users should also distinguish these municipal register proportions from figures published in central foreign-national registers, which follow different deregistrations rules and legal status verification workflows.
Frequently asked questions
- Are naturalised citizens counted in the foreign population share?
- No, anyone holding German citizenship, including naturalised persons and dual passport holders, is counted as domestic and excluded from the foreign numerator.
- How does this share differ from statistics on persons with a migration background?
- This series measures legal nationality only, whereas migration background statistics include naturalised citizens and descendants of immigrants.
- Why can naturalisations cause this share to decline during periods of net inward migration?
- If resident foreign nationals acquire citizenship at a faster pace than net new foreign arrivals register, the non-citizen percentage will decrease.