German population

The demography of Germany is monitored by the Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office of Germany). According to the first census since reunification, Germany's population was 82,790,700 (9 May 2011), making it the sixteenth-most populous country in the world and the most populous in the European Union. The total fertility rate was rated at 1.57 in 2017. In 2008, fertility was related to educational achievement (women with lower levels of education were having more children than women who had completed higher education). In 2011, this was no longer true for Eastern Germany, where higher educated women now had a somewhat higher fertility rate compared to the rest of the population. Persons who said they had no religion tend to have fewer children than those who identify as Christians, and studies also found that amongst Christians, the more conservative ones had more children compared to the more liberal ones. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is legal in Germany, with an age limit of 40 years. The United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as host to the second-highest number of international migrants worldwide, behind the United States. More than 16,000,000 people are descended from immigrants (first and second generation, including mixed heritage and ethnic German repatriates and their descendants). 96.1% of those reside in western Germany and Berlin. About 7,000,000 of them are foreign residents, defined as those without German citizenship. The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are the Turkish. Since the 1960s, West and later reunified Germany has been attracting immigrants primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, many of whom (or their children) have acquired German citizenship over time. While most of these immigrants initially arrived as guest workers, Germany has also been a prime destination for refugees who have applied for asylum in Germany, in part because the German constitution has long had a clause guaranteeing political asylum as a human right; but restrictions over the years have since limited the scope of this guarantee. Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of students entering university has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools are among the world's best. With a per capita income of about €40,883 in 2018, Germany is a broadly middle-class society. However, there has been a strong increase in the number of children living in poverty. In 1965, one in 75 children was on the welfare rolls; but by 2007 this had increased to one child in 6. These children live in relative poverty, but not necessarily in absolute poverty. Germans are typically very well-travelled people, with millions travelling overseas each year. The social welfare system provides for universal health care, unemployment compensation, child benefits and other social programmes. Due to Germany's ageing population and struggling economy, the welfare system came under a lot of strain in the 1990s. This led the government to adopt a wide-ranging programme of belt-tightening reforms, Agenda 2010, including the labour market reforms known as Hartz I - IV. The contemporary demographics of Germany are also measured by a series of full censuses, with the most recent held in 1987. Since reunification, German authorities rely on a micro census. The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation. Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations. 1875-1950 1950-2015