Foreign population

Notes & caveats

• Counts come from the Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister, AZR): people without German citizenship who are registered as staying in Germany not just temporarily (as a rule for more than three months), plus some other cases such as asylum applicants. Dual nationals with a German passport count as Germans and are not included. AZR counts are higher than the foreign population in the population update (Bevölkerungsfortschreibung), partly because departures are recorded late.
• All rates are our calculation: AZR count on 31 December ÷ population on the same date (Bevölkerungsfortschreibung on the basis of the 2022 census, GENESIS 12411-0015 for districts and 12411-0010 for states).
• Destatis rounds every AZR count to a multiple of 5 for confidentiality, so district counts do not add up exactly to state totals. East, West, Berlin, Germany and state values use the state tables; district values use the district tables.
• Kassel city and Kassel district, Cottbus and Spree-Neiße, and the six districts of Saarland are each served by a single foreigners' authority, and the AZR does not split them. Each of these is shown with one joint rate (our calculation over their combined population).
• Foreign citizens registered in the AZR on 31.12.2025: 1,090,230 in the eastern states, 11,985,405 in the West, 994,590 in Berlin, 14,070,225 in Germany.
• Change since 1991: 110,516 → 1,090,230 in the East (×9.9), 5,416,179 → 11,985,405 in the West (×2.2). Much of the recent rise in the East comes from refugees from Ukraine since 2022, who are distributed across the states by quota.
• The eastern district with the highest share is Frankfurt (Oder) (17.5%); the lowest western share is in Bayreuth (district) (6.3%). The district ranges overlap.
• 1991 values: AZR counts on 31.12.1991 ÷ population on 31.12.1991 from the population update of the time (1987 census in the West, GDR register in the East). The AZR register was cleaned up in 2004 and later, so long-run comparisons are approximate. Berlin in 1991 is the whole city.