German population hits all-time high

Germany's population continues to grow but at a slower rate than at any time since 2012, according to numbers released by the Federal Statistics Office on Friday.

It has now reached 83.2 million, an increase of 200,000 compared with the previous year. However, this is entirely down to migration as the statisticians revealed: "Without migration gains the population would be shrinking."

Read more: Opinion: Accepting refugee children won't solve the problem

In 2019, the statistical bureau estimated, between 770,000 and 790,000 people were born in Germany while roughly 930,000 died. Numerical assessments put the number of net arrivals from abroad at between 300,000 and 350,000, though this figure is in decline for the fourth consecutive year.

Economic worries

Germany has suffered from a chronic birth deficit in recent years and, as a result, has one of the world's oldest populations. Indeed, last year, Europe's largest economy had its highest number of deaths since 1972.

The aging population is putting a strain on Germany's public pension system and is a concern for companies keen to hire skilled workers.

A recent poll put Chancellor Angela Merkel's asylum policy as the chief concern for most Germans. The country has received more than 1 million people since 2015 as they fled their homelands due to war and poverty.

jsi/rt (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

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