According to initial estimates by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 83.2 million people were living in Germany at the end of 2021, which was roughly the same number as at the end of both 2020 and 2019.

In 2021, the stagnating population was due to the increased number of deaths, which exceeded the number of births. The gap between births and deaths, however, was filled by higher net immigration. In 2020, net immigration had decreased.

Since reunification, the number of people living in Germany has mostly grown, the office said. However, in 2020, Germany’s population did not grow for the first time since 2011. 

Experts say that the population is stagnating in 2021 rather than falling due to the fact that more people are moving in than out.

Destatis estimates that in 2021 there will be between 270,000 and 320,000 more people coming into Germany than leaving. 

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“Without these gains in migration, the population would have been shrinking since 1972, as more people have died than have been born every year since then,” the Federal Statistical Office states in its report.

Initial estimates show that the number of births increased from 773,144 in 2020 to somewhere between 775,000-795,000 in 2021. 

The number of deaths also increased – from 985,572 in 2020 to about 1.02 million.

The basis for the estimates from the Federal Statistical Office is data on births as well as inflows and outflows from the months from January to October 2021.

The final figures on population will be published in summer 2022.