Forty-three percent of newly arrived foreigners aged between 15 and 65 boast a professional qualification in a trade; something only 26 percent of Germans have.

The study, conducted by labour market researcher Herbert Brücker for the Bertelsmann Foundation, points to high unemployment in other European countries pushing skilled workers to Germany.

Despite this, economists from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) maintain that Germany still sees immigrants as less qualified than themselves. In actual fact, the face of the country’s foreign population has, they said, radically changed over the last decade.

In 2012 alone, more than a million people arrived in Germany, the federal statistics office revealed. This is the highest amount since 1995 and among them, a large amount are highly qualified.

Areas of the country, like smaller towns, suffering from a lack of skilled tradesmen and vocationally qualified workers could look to Germany’s newer residents for support, said the study.

“Germany needs more qualified immigrants more than ever,” said chairman at Bertelsmann Foundation Jörg Dräger, adding that that included those from non-EU countries.

DPA/The Local/jcw