At the end of 2025, 83.5 million people lived in the country. This reduction is equivalent to a little more than 0.13%.
The reduction in net migration – 235,000 more people moved into the country than left – was not enough to cancel out the fact that 352,000 more people died in Germany in 2025 than were born.
The last time the German population shrank in a year was in 2020, as the height of travel restrictions amid the COVID pandemic led to a sharp decline in migration.
Germany’s birth rate hit its lowest level on record last year and Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised to take a tough stance on migration in the 2025 election campaign, so the news was no surprise.
The only states where population increased were the fully urban city states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg.
The rate of population decline in the former East German states was much faster, at 0.5% (a total of 57,000 people), while in the states that made up the former West Germany it was 0.1% (or 68,000 people). Eastern states have fewer people with migrant backgrounds, who also have more children.
As a result the age of the population continued to increase. The 60-79 age group continued to grow, with 358,000 people joining its ranks as more and more so-called “babyboomers” approached retirement age.
The primary tax-paying age group, 20 to 59, fell disproportionately below the national average by 1.0% or 409,000 people.
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