IMMIGRATION IN GERMANY
Foreign nationals in German states and cities
Research by The Immigrant Times*​
The vast majority of foreign nationals in Germany are of working age and in employment
Foreign nationals in Germany
Regions and countries of origin
Augst 2024: At the beginning of 2025, around 14 million foreign nationals were living in Germany, representing an increase of 1.2 per cent over the previous year. Overall, foreigners make up around 17 per cent of the total German population. Most foreigners come from European countries. The top countries are Turkey, Romania and Poland. Around half of European foreigners come from EU countries. Just under 800,000 foreigners are of African origin, while 3.2 million foreigners come from Asian countries, with just under one million coming from Syria and a further 440,000 from Afghanistan.
Please note: Foreign nationals are defined as residents without German passports, while people with an immigration background are German nationals who themselves or their parents or grandparents immigrated to Germany.
Foreign nationals in Germany by region/country of origin
Europe: 9.6 million; European Union (EU): 5.1 million; Romania: 910,000; Poland: 865,000; Italy: 637,000; Bulgaria: 432,000; Croatia: 426,000
Non-EU Europe: 4.5 million; Turkey: 1.5 million; Ukraine: 1.3 million; Kosovo: 314,000; Russia: 302,000; Serbia: 273,000
Africa: 791,000; The Americas: 355,000; USA: 120,000
Asia: 3.2 million; Syria: 975,000; Afghanistan: 442,000; India: 277,000; Iraq: 269,000; China: 163,000
Foreign nationals in German states and cities
The distribution of the foreign population in Germany varies from region to region, with some federal states having a significantly higher proportion than others. Measured as a percentage of the total population, Berlin, a city state, has the highest proportion of foreigners at 27 per cent. Bremen, also a city state, and Hesse are in second and third place with 23 and 22 per cent respectively. The five eastern German states, where the anti-foreigner party AfD (Alternative for Germany) is particularly strong, all have a foreign population of less than 10 per cent.
​
Germany
Total population: 83.28 million
No of foreign nationals: 14.06 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 16.9%
Baden-Württemberg
Total population: 11.25 million
No of foreign nationals: 2.19 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 19.5%
Cities in Baden-Württemberg
Stuttgart (state capital)
Popl: 628,000
Around 44 per cent of the population has an immigration background. Among young people, almost half have parents or grandparents with foreign roots.
Mannheim
Popl: 318,000
Almost half (49.4%) of the population in Mannheim has an immigration background, which corresponds to 162,206 people. Of these, 28.8% are foreign nationals, while 20.6% have German citizenship. Turkish nationals form the largest group of people without a German passport.
Mannheim
Popl: 311,000
At the end of 2022, around 115,000 people with an immigration background lived in Karlsruhe, which corresponds to approximately 38% of the total population. The number of foreigners without a German passport was around 19.7%.
Freiburg
Popl: 237,000
Foreign nationals make up 17.1% of the total population in Freiburg. It is estimated that between 70% and 75% of foreign residents in Freiburg come from Europe.
Heidelberg
Popl: 160,000
Some 16.6% of residents in the city are foreign nationals.
Ulm
Popl: 130,000
Some 23% of city residents are foreign nationals. In July 2025, Ulm was home to 2,400 people with refugee status.
Bayern (Bavaria)
Total population: 13.25 million
No of foreign nationals: 2.39 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 18.1%
Cities in Bayern
München (Munich)
Popl: 1.60 million
Around 478,000 people with foreign citizenship live in Munich. This corresponds to approximately 30% of Munich's total population. In addition, there are approximately 283,000 German citizens with an immigration background.
Nürnberg
Popl: 546,000
More than half of the city’s population (51.6%) has an immigrant background. The figure includes first-generation immigrants and those whose parents or grandparents were born outside Germany.
Augsburg
Popl: 300,000
Approximately 75% of foreign residents originate from other European countries, with the largest groups coming from Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, and Croatia.
Regensburg
Popl: 180,000
According to statistics from December 2024, a total of 36,546 foreigners live in Regensburg, which represents 20.4% of the total population.
Würzburg
Popl: 134,000
At the beginning of 2023, foreign residents accounted for 14.4% of the total population.
Berlin (city state)
Total population: 3.69 million
No of foreign nationals: 1.00 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 26.9%
Berlin has a large and diverse immigrant population, with a significant number of people from Turkey, the Middle East, and other parts of Europe, as well as smaller groups from East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and other regions.
Brandenburg
Total population: 2.56 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.21 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 8.3%
Cities in Brandenburg
Potsdam (State capital)
Popl: 185,000
The proportion of foreign residents in Potsdam's total population has risen in recent years. In 2018, the proportion was 8.65%, while in 2021 it was 10.21%.
Bremen (city state)
Total population: 0.71 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.16 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 23.0%
In Bremen, the number of foreign residents amounts to 162,000.
​
Hamburg (city state)
Total population: 1.86 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.39 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 20.9%
Some 46,000 foreign residents carry Turkish passports, while refugees and immigrants from Ukraine amount to some 36,000. Hamburg is also home to some 32,000 Afghans and 27,000 people from Poland.
Hessen (Hesse)
Total population: 6.28 million
No of foreign nationals: 1.35 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 21.5%
Cities in Hessen
Frankfurt
Popl: 770,000
In Frankfurt, more than half of the population has an immigrant background, with arrivals from abroad playing an important role. At the end of 2023, 244,401 foreign nationals were living in Frankfurt, with Turkish nationals forming the largest group. Immigration from abroad is a key factor in Frankfurt's population growth. Besides regular immigration, Frankfurt also takes in refugees. Around 155 refugees are accepted each month.
Wiesbaden (state capital)
Popl: 291,000
Wiesbaden is home to people from many different countries. At the end of 2024, Wiesbaden had 290, 932inhabitants, 34% of whom were born in Wiesbaden. Part of the population has a migrant background, and some of them are foreign nationals who are registered in Wiesbaden. The largest groups of foreign residents come from Turkey, Italy, Poland, Greece and Serbia.
Kassel
Popl: 205,000
The proportion of people with a migrant background in the total population is 30.4%. Among people with a migrant background are individuals from Turkey, Syria, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Afghanistan, Poland, and Somalia.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
Total population: 1.57 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.13 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 7.9%
Cities in Mecklenburg
Rostock
Popl: 205,000
In 2022, foreign residents accounted for 8.4% of the total population. If one considers people with a migrant background, stands at 13.8%. The city of Rostock has one of the highest proportions of foreign nationals in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, at 4.0%. In comparison, the state capital, Schwerin (popl: 97,000), has a proportion of 3.9%. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, around 3,000 Ukrainians have fled to Rostock, and over 3,200 live in the district.
Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)
Total population: 8.00 million
No of foreign nationals: 1.09 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 13.7%
Cities in Niedersachsen
Hannover (state capital)
Popl: 555,000
No of individuals with an immigration background: 234,000 (42.2%). No of foreign nationals 123,000 (22.1%). The three largest groups of foreign nationals are Turkish (15,000), Ukrainian (11,000) and Syrian (8,600).
Wolfsburg
Popl: 129,000
The proportion of foreign residents in Wolfsburg is 18.3%.
​
Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Total population: 18.03 million
No of foreign nationals: 3.27 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 18.2%
Cities in Nordrhein-Westfalen
Köln (Cologne)
Popl: 1.1 million
In 2024, Turks were by far the largest group among the more than 232,000 foreign residents of the city of Cologne. Approximately 8% of the foreign population has Italian citizenship. They were followed by the Ukrainian population. In addition, many people of Bulgarian and Iraqi origin also live in Cologne.
Düsseldorf (state capital)
Popl: 658,000
According to city hall data from 2024, a total of 658,245 people have their primary residence in Düsseldorf, 166,626 of whom are foreigners, which corresponds to a share of approximately 25.3%. Most of them are Turkish nationals, followed by Ukrainian and Greek nationals.
Dortmund
Popl: 615,000
Foreign residents make up some 18% of the city population.
Essen
Popl: 597,000
Essen city hall reports that approximately 18.7% of the population carries foreign passports. The largest group of foreign residents come from Ukraine followed by Turkey, Syria, Irak and Poland.
Bielefeld
Popl: 348,000
There are around 71,000 foreigners living in Bielefeld, which corresponds to around 20% of the city's total population. The largest proportion of these are Turkish nationals, numbering almost 12,000.
Bonn
Popl: 341,000
More than 113,000 people with a immigrant background live in Bonn, including around 69,400 foreign nationals. The largest group of immigrants comes from Syria, followed by Turkey and Poland.
Münster
Popl: 319,000
People from Ukraine made up the biggest group among the 41,000 foreign citizens in Münster at the end of 2023. Syria was just behind.
Gelsenkirchen
Popl: 268,000
Foreign residents make up 24% of the population.
Aachen
Popl: 263,000
Around 52,000 people of foreign nationality live in the Aachen urban region, which corresponds to around 20% of the population. Most of them come from Turkey, followed by Ukraine. A third of the inhabitants have an international background, according to the city of Aachen.
Leverkusen
Popl: 171,000
In 2024, the proportion of foreign citizens in the total population rose to 20.2%. The largest foreign nationality in Leverkusen is Turkish, followed by Italian, Polish, Macedonian, and Greek.
Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland Palatinate)
Total population: 4.13 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.63 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 15.2%
Cities in Rheinland-Pfalz
Mainz (state capital)
Popl: 224,000
According to the latest census, 47,000 people with foreign citizenship live in Mainz.
Ludwigshafen
Popl: 177,000
The city is home to some 50,000 foreign residents.
Koblenz
Popl: 116,000
The city is home to some 18,000 foreign residents.
Trier
Popl: 112,000
Trier, Germany's oldest city, has a diverse population, including a significant proportion of foreigners. At the beginning of 2025, around 20% of Trier's inhabitants were foreign nationals, corresponding to 22,328 people.
Kaiserslautern
Popl 102,000
The city of Kaiserslautern is home to approximately 33,000 foreign nationals, representing approximately 18% of the population. The city also hosts the largest US military community outside the United States, with approximately 50,000 Americans.
​
Saarland
Total population: 1.01 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.16 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 16.1%
Cities in Saarland
Saarbrücken (state capital)
Popl: 183,000
The proportion of foreigners in Saarbrücken is approximately 20.4%.
​
Sachsen (Saxony)
Total population: 4.04 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.36 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 9.0%
Cities in Sachsen
Leipzig
Popl: 617,000
At the end of 2022, the proportion of foreign residents in Leipzig was around 13.4%. In October 2023, there were also 3,531 asylum seekers living in Leipzig.
Dresden (capital city)
Popl: 574,000
There are 102,000 people with a migrant background living in Dresden (December 2024). This corresponds to around 17.7% all Dresden residents. Some 12.5% of the inhabitants of the Saxon capital are foreign nationals.
Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt)
Total population: 2.14 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.19 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 8.8%
Cities in Sachsen-Anhalt
Magdeburg (state capital)
Popl: 242,000
According to figures from July 2024, approximately 38,600 people without German citizenship live in the state capital of Magdeburg. This means that Magdeburg currently has a foreign population of around 15%.
Schleswig-Holstein
Total population: 2.96 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.35 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 11.9%
Cities in Schleswig-Holstein
Kiel (state capital)
Popl: 251,000
In 2024, Kiel had a total population of 251,000 , of which 38,541 were foreign citizens (15.3%) and 77,145 were residents with a migration background (30.7%).
Lübeck
Popl: 223,000
The proportion of foreign residents in Lübeck is 13.%.
Thüringen (Thuringia)
Total population: 2.1 million
No of foreign nationals: 0.19 million
Percentage of foreign nationals: 9.0%
Cities in Thüringen
Erfurt (state capital)
Popl: 210,000
In 2023, the proportion of foreign residents in Erfurt
stood at 12.4% of the total population, which corresponds to approximately 26,881 people. The largest groups come from Poland, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan, Russia and Turkey, according to the Erfurt city administration. The foreign population is significantly younger on average than the German population. The average age is 32.4 years, while that of the German population is 45.9 years.
Weimar
Population 66,000
Some 11.4% of the population are foreign residents.
Rudolstadt
Popl: 24,000
The district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, which also includes the city of Rudolstadt, has a total population of 101,500 (as of December 2022). Of these, 4.8% are foreign citizens.
__________________________
​
* Methodology: The research was carried out by The Immigrant Times in June and July 2025.
Sources: Statistisches Bundesamt (German Statistical Office); Mediendienst Integration; Die Bundeswahlleiterin (German election office); The statistical offices of the German states (Bundesländer); Ausländerbüros deutscher Städte (Foreign national office of German cities)
Further reading: A Syrian refugee elected German mayor |
​