Three quarters of Germany's new residents (77%) come from European countries, 13% from Asian countries, and another 4% from Africa. The top immigrants are Poles (16%), followed by Romanians (11%) and Italians (5%). Compared to 2012, the flow of immigration from 'crisis' countries of the European Union has increased sharply: from Italy (by 35%), Spain (by 17%), Portugal (by 15%). As experts especially note, the claims that most immigrants come to Germany from the poorest third-world countries do not correspond to reality.
Analysts also question the widely held claim that immigrants live mainly on German state money. According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, German social funds, on the contrary, benefit from the growing number of people from other countries in Germany. According to Foundation experts, immigrants pay more into the German tax and social systems than they receive back from the state budget.
In fairness, it must be said that there are other opinions. For example, the head of the Munich Institute for Economic Research Ifo, Hans-Werner Sinn, believes that from the money transferred by immigrants into insurance, pension and other mandatory social payment systems, one must also deduct the state's own mandatory expenses for each resident of the country. The economist mentions, in particular, expenses on defense or transport infrastructure. With this calculation, each immigrant costs the German state 1,800 euros annually.
Experts are also not very clear on individual claims that immigrants break the law much more often than 'native' residents of the country. According to crime statistics for 2013, the number of crimes committed by foreigners in Germany increased by 7.2% to 538,449. Among German citizens, however, this figure is 1,555,711 (down 2.3%).
The chairman of the German police union, Rainer Wendt, acknowledges that in certain areas of Germany there is indeed a high level of crime among 'men of Turkish or Arab origin.' However, in his conviction, 'in no case can it be said that immigrants are in principle more prone to committing crimes than Germans.'
As noted in the latest report of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), 43% of all new immigrants aged 15 to 65 have a higher or secondary technical education. Among Germans in this age group, only 26% do. The greatest educational problems are experienced by young people of Turkish and Arab origin aged 30 to 34, of whom every second has not completed their vocational training.
According to 'Russkaya Germaniya,' data from the European statistical office does not confirm the thesis that Germany receives more refugees relative to its population than other EU states. Other countries are ahead here – Sweden, Malta, the Netherlands and Cyprus, while Germany is only in fifth place. According to statisticians, in the first six months of the past year, 94,200 refugees arrived in Germany. True, this flow is by no means declining.