Shifting Immigration Patterns in Germany

As the largest economy in Europe, Germany is one of the primary destinations for immigrants in the region, behind only the United Kingdom and ahead of France. Officially, some 7 million foreign nationals live legally in Germany, and between 500,000 and 1 million more reside in the country illegally. Taking into account naturalized foreigners and their children, the country is home to an estimated 15 million people with an "immigration background" — roughly 19 percent of Germany's total population.

But the migration profile in Germany has shifted significantly over the past decade. Flows of foreign workers from some of the country's traditional labor sources such as Turkey have declined, while higher numbers of immigrants have been arriving from Central and Eastern Europe. Constrained by an aging and declining population, Germany needs to attract and assimilate foreign workers in order to maintain a robust workforce and preserve its prime geopolitical position in Europe.