In 2025, approximately 21.8 million people in Germany had an immigrant background. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday, the proportion of this group within private households saw a slight increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year, reaching 26.3 percent.
The term “immigrant background” is defined by the statisticians as applying to individuals who have either immigrated to Germany themselves (first generation) or whose parents both immigrated since 1950 (second generation).
Roughly every fifth person living in Germany (19.8 percent of the population) had immigrated themselves. This accounts for 16.4 million immigrants in 2025-an increase of 1.7 percent, or 28,000 people, compared to 2024. This growth rate was notably slower than in previous years; between 2021 and 2024, the number of self-immigrants grew by an average of 6.2 percent, or 888,000 people annually. Among the 16.4 million self-immigrants in 2025, 6.3 million people (39 percent of all self-immigrants) were born in five countries: Poland (1.5 million), Turkey (1.5 million), Ukraine (1.3 million), the Russian Federation (1.0 million), and Syria (1.0 million).
Furthermore, 5.4 million people (6.5 percent of the population) in 2025 were direct descendants of immigrants-meaning they were born in Germany to two parents who both immigrated since 1950. This group, alongside the self-immigrants, also falls under the “immigrant background” population, with a three percent rise from 2024, amounting to 160,000 individuals.
The group whose immigrant background was due to only one parent immigrating was not counted in the initial total. This comprised 4.2 million people born in Germany in 2025, representing 5.0 percent of the population, which is an increase of 0.2 percentage points or 10,000 people from the previous year.
For comparison, 56.8 million people lived in Germany in 2025 without an immigrant background. This group was neither self-immigrants since 1950 nor children of a parent who had immigrated. This represented more than two-thirds (68.6 percent) of the population, marking a decrease of 0.9 percent, or 488,000 people compared to the previous year.
According to the Federal Office, the number of people with an immigrant background rose from 13.0 million in 2005 to 21.8 million in 2025-an increase of 8.8 million people, or 67 percent. Of this total, roughly two-thirds (5.9 million people) immigrated themselves, while about one-third (2.9 million people) were born to both immigrated parents. Over the 20-year period, the proportion of the population with an immigrant background grew by about 10 percentage points, from 16.0 percent in 2005 to 26.3 percent in 2025.
Overall, the population living in private households decreased by an average of 38,000 people in 2025 compared to the previous year. Had the increase in the number of people with an immigrant background not occurred, the overall decline would have been significantly steeper, amounting to 478,000 people (-0.9 percent).
The population with an immigrant background appears younger than the overall population. In the 25-34 age bracket in 2025, over one in three people (36 percent) had an immigrant background, compared to only one in seven (14 percent) for those over 65. The average age for the “immigrant background” population was 38.2 years in 2025, approximately nine years younger than the average age of the population without such a background (47.6 years).
Among the young, self-immigrant adults aged 25 to 34, 33 percent (896,000 people) held an academic degree. This rate was nearly as high as in the total population of this age group (34 percent). However, 36 percent of self-immigrants aged 25-34 (1.0 million people) had no vocational qualification and were neither in education nor training. This proportion was more than double the rate observed in all individuals in this age group (17 percent). Consequently, the percentage of young self-immigrants with vocational qualifications was lower: while 46 percent of all 25-34-year-olds in Germany had completed vocational training in the dual system or a specialized college, only 27 percent of self-immigrants reported this.