Immigration to Germany slowed significantly in 2020. Around 109,900 foreigners became naturalized according to the Federal Statistical Office. That was 19,000 or 15 percent less than in the previous year. According to the experts, one of the main reasons for the decline was Brexit. The British would have had until the end of 2020 to retain their British citizenship when they were naturalized in Germany. In view of the many uncertainties after the 2016 Brexit referendum, however, many of those affected would have preferred to be naturalized earlier.
Ranking of naturalizations
Declining demand from the UK was reportedly responsible for eight percent of the drop in naturalizations. The other half was therefore attributable to the effects of the corona pandemic. The Federal Statistical Office announced that it has partially led to an application backlog with the responsible authorities.
It recorded in the country ranking not just a new number one, but a lot of movement in general. There was also a new front runner in naturalization among the member states of the European Union. Every fourth new German citizen (26 percent) came from the EU. The rest spread across the world. “In 2020, people with 173 different nationalities were naturalized in Germany,” said the authority.
Most of the new Germans came from these countries
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@IMAGO / photothek
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#10 Afghanistan
2880 Afghans became German citizens in 2020. Your country of origin was tenth among the countries from which most of the new Germans came. The Federal Statistical Office counted 1695 men and 1180 women. Before naturalization, they had lived in Germany for an average of eleven years and were on average 28.4 years old. Afghanistan was ahead of Serbia (2765 naturalizations) and Greece (2650) in the ranking.
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@IMAGO / photothek
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#9 Kosovo
Exactly 3,440 new German citizens came from Kosovo in 2020. The 1,840 men and 1,600 women had lived in the Federal Republic for an average of 16.4 years and were 27.3 years old. They were thus well below the average age for naturalizations. In 2020 it was 33.5 years.
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@IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
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#8 Iran
Iran took eighth place in the ranking with 3965 naturalizations. It was the first country from which more women (2000) than men (1965) became Germans. The new citizens were on average 35.5 years old and had been in the country for a comparatively short 9.5 years.
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@IMAGO / Independent Photo Agency Int.
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# 7 Italy
Italians in Germany are taking their time with the new citizenship. The Federal Statistical Office registered 4075 new citizens (2065 men, 2015 women) who on average had lived in Germany for almost 28 years. This was also reflected in the above-average age: 37.8 years old.
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@IMAGO / Xinhua
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#6 Iraq
The typical Iraqi-born German looked completely different. He was an average of 24.9 years old and had lived in Germany for 10.6 years. Iraq was sixth among the countries of origin with 4770 naturalizations (2650 men, 2120 women).
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@IMAGO / UIG
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# 5 United Kingdom
The Brexit run to Germany is over. This leaves clear traces in the statistics. According to statisticians, a good half of the overall slump in naturalizations can be attributed to lower demand from the former EU frontrunner from 2017 to 2019, the United Kingdom. “In 2020 only 4900 British citizens were naturalized, that was 9700 or almost two thirds (minus 66 percent) less than in 2019,” said the agency after the record year 2019. In 2020, statisticians counted significantly more British men (2990) than women (1940 ) who were naturalized. On average, they had lived in Germany for almost 23 years and, at 47.5 years of age, were among the oldest new citizens. The average age was topped by Switzerland and Luxembourg (48.6 years each), Austria (50.9 years), Sweden (54.1 years) and Finland (55.0 years).
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@IMAGO / Frank Sorge
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# 4 Poland
For many years, since Poland joined the EU in 2004, our neighbor within the Community has provided most of the new German citizens. It was replaced by the United Kingdom in the run-up to Brexit in 2017. But even after Britain’s exit from the EU, Poland is no longer number one for naturalizations within the European Union. 5000 new citizens (3435 women and 1565 men) were only enough for second place in the EU and fourth place in the overall list. The native Poles were on average 14 years old in Germany and 37.5 years old.
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@IMAGO / Action Pictures
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# 3 Romania
In 2020, Romania became the EU member state from which most of the new German citizens came for the first time. The statisticians counted 5,930 naturalizations. Here, as with the Poles, women were clearly in the majority (3620 compared with 2310 men). Romanians became Germans comparatively quickly. They lived on average a little less than ten years in the Federal Republic and were 31.8 years old.
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# 2 Syria
Contrary to the trend, the number of naturalized Syrians rose sharply in 2020. It increased by 74 percent from 3900 to 6700 naturalizations (4125 men, 2575 women). “Five years ago there were still 2,000 naturalizations,” said the Federal Statistical Office looking back. The war-torn country was in second place in the ranking for the first time in 2020. The experts expected the numbers to continue to rise over the next few years. More and more of the Syrian asylum seekers who entered the country between 2014 and 2016 would then meet the requirements for naturalization. The new Germans were only 7.5 years in the country on average and with an average of 24.6 the youngest in this ranking. “For around 22 percent of Syrians naturalized in 2020, the minimum length of stay had been shortened due to special integration benefits,” the statisticians explained.
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