Immigration country

In 2011, the total proportion of the population with a migration background as defined by official statistics (i.e. people who have immigrated to the current federal territory from outside Germany since 1949 and their descendants) was around 19 percent (15 million inhabitants) and the total proportion of the population without German citizenship was 8.3 percent (6.6 million inhabitants).

In addition to the guest workers in the 1960s and 1970s, since the 1980s there have been large numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet republics, from Poland and, during the time of the Yugoslav Wars, from the former Yugoslavia.

With the global financial crisis that began in 2007 and the resulting economic problems (especially youth unemployment) in places like Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy, Germany has developed into a stable location that is always attractive to immigrants.

In addition to migrants from European countries, Germany is also a popular destination for academics and entrepreneurs from other parts of the world; the number of Israelis, for example, has increased sharply in the years since 2010.

One of the reasons for this was the high demand for workers in a rapidly growing economy; previously low-skilled jobs were increasingly only filled by immigrants.

In 2000, a referendum resulted in a majority in favour of concluding a bilateral agreement with the EU on the free movement of persons ; this was again pushed for primarily by the economy, with its need for a predominantly well-qualified workforce.

This has prompted right-wing political circles (especially the SVP) to call for the application of the safety valve clause set out in the bilateral agreements, which could lead to certain immigration quotas being reintroduced.