© Provided by The Independent The number of non-German citizens moving to and living in the country sharply decreased last year, government figures show, with coronavirus thought to be a major factor.
Foreigners living in Germany increased by just 1.8 per cent in 2020, which is the lowest rate in 10 years, while net immigration decreased by 31 per cent from the previous year.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the number of foreigners moving to Germany last year from countries outside the European Union also declined by more than half.
The number of incoming Indian citizens showed the single biggest decrease, followed by Syrians. Only 8,000 Indians moved to Germany in 2020, compared to 21,000 in 2019. The number of Syrians who arrived decreased to 21,000 from 31,000.
Data also showed that more Americans and Chinese people left Germany than moved to the country.
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"After long phases of net immigration, the number of Chinese and American citizens leaving surpasses the number of those moving here," the office reported. "The Central Register of Foreigners records a net emigration of about 3,000 people for both citizenships."
Some 21.2 million (26 per cent) of people living in Germany in 2019, the latest figure available, had some kind of immigrant background, such as one or both parents having foreign citizenship.
The FSO data suggests Germany's foreign-born population rose by about 204,000 in 2020 to 11.4 million - of the country's entire 83 million populace - in a year dogged by heavy travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Germany is currently experiencing its third wave of the virus, which Germany's top health officials have warned could be the worst to hit the country so far.
Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Infectious Diseases, has said there could be as many as 100,000 new coronavirus cases daily if the disease is not controlled. On Friday, the country reported 21,573 new cases.
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