Migrants send German population growth soaring
MORE than a million migrants flooded into Germany last year leading to the country’s biggest rise in population for more than two decades.
Migrants from the Middle East and Africa flocked to Europe’s most populous nation, drawn by Angela Merkel’s open-door migration policy, Germany’s strong economy and its generous benefits system.
Net migration reached a record high of 1,139,000, more than doubling the figure for 2014, the Federal Statistical Office said yesterday. Some German politicians have argued the influx will help ease a shortage of skilled labour as the population ages and birth rates fall.
But others are worried such a large number of migrants, many of who lack the language skills and training Germany needs, is placing a heavy burden on the country’s benefits system and social services.
In 2015 overall the population rose by 978,000 to 82.2 million, its strongest rise since 1992. All of Germany’s 16 regions saw their populations increase as asylum seekers are spread around the country based on each state’s population.
At the end of last year there were 8.7 million foreign nationals living in Germany, an increase of 14.7 per cent compared with the previous year, with foreigners making up 10.5 per cent of the overall population.
Federal elections are due next year.
YESTERDAY it was revealed that in Germany last year net immigration doubled to more than a million. The Hungarian prime minister also unveiled plans to build a second border fence in case Turkey reneges on its migration promises.
Angela Merkel’s open-door policy will have ramifications for years to come. It has drastically altered the make-up of her own country’s population and that of Europe. Meanwhile migrants have committed a string of crimes and terror attacks and Europe has ended up beholden to Turkey’s President Erdogan, a figure best regarded with suspicion.
If only Mrs Merkel had demonstrated the same tough approach as Hungary rather than following her own misguided soft-touch policies.