For the first time in almost a decade, the population of Germany went stagnant.
This is according to new data released on Monday by the Federal Statistical Office.
The data revealed that 83.2 million people lived in Germany at the end of 2020, which was almost the same as the previous year.
In the years 2011 to 2019, the annual population had continuously edged upwards, from 80.3 million to 83.2 million.
The statisticians said there were two primary reasons for the flat growth in 2020, a year dominated by the pandemic; Immigration and an ageing population.
In the first case, net immigration fell from 294,000 in 2019 to 209,000 in 2020.
Secondly, the difference between deaths and births has continued to increase.
In the past year, 212,000 more people died than children were born. In 2019, the birth deficit was 161,000.
The number of older people continues to rise: The tally of people aged 80 and over increased by 4.5 per cent to 5.9 million within a year.
The number of those aged 60-79 increased slightly to 18.2 million, a climb of 0.5 per cent.
In contrast, the number of people between 20 and 59 years of age decreased by 0.4 per cent and amounted to around 43.7 million.
Some 15.3 million residents were classified as children and youth, a count that remained almost unchanged compared to the previous year.
Overall, the mean age of Germany’s population increased by 0.1 to 44.6 years.
(dpa/NAN)
