The influx of foreign citizens has rejuvenated Germany's population
In 1990, foreigners accounted for only 5.34 million people. A sharp increase in the number of foreigners living in Germany began in 2009.
People with foreign passports who do not have German citizenship, as of the end of 2017, according to the Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister, AZR), numbered 10.62 million in Germany. This is 5.8%, or 585,000 people, more than in 2016. As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, in 2016 the increase in the number of foreigners compared to 2015 was 13%.
The three largest groups of foreigners are from Turkey (1.48 million people), Poland (867,000), and Syria (699,000). After the reform of citizenship legislation 18 years ago, children of Turkish parents increasingly receive German citizenship; therefore, unlike other groups of foreigners, the number of foreigners with Turkish passports has been steadily declining.
About 5.92 million foreigners registered in Germany came from so-called third countries: in 2017, there were 163,000 more, or 2.8% more than in 2016. A total of 17,000 people emigrated from Iraq (in 2016 – 91,000), from Afghanistan – 5,000 (in 2016 – up to 119,000), immigration from Syria in 2017 was about 61,000 people (compared to 260,000 in the previous year).
Such a low increase (2.8%) is explained by the balance of inflows and outflows. For example, increasing obstacles to family reunification for Syrian families are forcing many refugees from Syria to leave Germany, thus offsetting the arrival of new refugees from that country.
Another reason for the overall increase in foreigners, according to the statistical office in Wiesbaden, is immigration from the European Union, especially from the EU enlargement countries since 2004, i.e., from Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. The number of immigrants from these countries increased by 439,000 people in 2017; including from Poland and Romania – 85,000, from Bulgaria – 45,000.
The average age of residents with German passports is 43 years, the average age of foreigners is 37 years and six months. At the same time, every second recipient of Hartz-IV in Germany has immigrant roots.