Basic Information - Migration in Germany
General Information With a population of more than 80 million people, Germany has the 17th largest population in the world. Also, 12 million immigrants make up 11.9% of the German population and 4.3% of the world’s immigrants. Germany has a GDP of 3.73 trillion USD as of 2013, and a GDP per capita of about 46000 USD, as well as an unemployment rate of 4.7%. Protestants and Roman Catholics account for 34% of the German population respectively, and 3.1% of the population are Muslims (Anonymous, 2016). |
Why migrate to Germany?
Many of the EU immigrants, especially from Turkey, faced political instability and poor economy in their home country in the 1960s. With the Syrian war ongoing, many migrants want to seek asylum from the violence and poor conditions as well. Germany has the strongest economy in Europe, attracting many third world immigrants to immigrate for work opportunities. Also, for the EU migrant crisis, Germany was one of the first countries to announce it accepting refugees, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that there is no cap in the number of refugees it will welcome (Economist, 2016). |
Wirtschaftswunder
The Wirtschaftwunder (economic wonder) in Germany was due to economic reforms and the implementation of the “Sozial Marktwirtschaft” or Social Market Economy. Due to the promotion and development of the energy (mining), steel, chemical and engineering industry, this led to a growth of industrial production by 185% from 1950 to 1963. In the mid-1950s, the purchasing power of German currency increased while costs of living stagnated, resulting in more money for consumption, and thus, inflation and a general improvement in the economy of Germany (Kriwet, 2014). Germany faced a labour shortage during the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1950s, signing labour agreements for legal transient temporary workers. These include Turkey (20%), Poland (8%), Italy (7%), Greece (4%) which make up large percentage of the current population. However, they continued to stay because of ongoing unrest in their home country, and the need for labour in Germany. Without these immigrants, the significant economic growth in Germany “would not have been possible at the same pace… and that the GDP would have risen far less” At the same time, this also reduced unemployment in the host country, because employing 1.4 million immigrants resulted in the creation of 90,000 jobs for the locals (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2005, p.25). |
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Implications of migration on Germany
Social Effect
There will be more people with migration background than actual Germans in the future, as 20% of the German population has migration background, changing its future demographic makeup as of 2011 (Hoßmann et al, 2011).
Economic Effect
The EU legal economic migrants in the 20th century brought further economic growth to the country, filling in the gaps in the labour market and allowing the country to expand their economy during the boom. Also, some companies started by immigrants in Germany due to the cheap labour of the migrant transient immigrants, and hence boosting the economy of the country. This too reduced unemployment in the host country, because employing 1.4 million immigrants resulted in the creation of 90,000 jobs for the locals (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2005, p.25).
Social Effect
There will be more people with migration background than actual Germans in the future, as 20% of the German population has migration background, changing its future demographic makeup as of 2011 (Hoßmann et al, 2011).
Economic Effect
The EU legal economic migrants in the 20th century brought further economic growth to the country, filling in the gaps in the labour market and allowing the country to expand their economy during the boom. Also, some companies started by immigrants in Germany due to the cheap labour of the migrant transient immigrants, and hence boosting the economy of the country. This too reduced unemployment in the host country, because employing 1.4 million immigrants resulted in the creation of 90,000 jobs for the locals (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2005, p.25).
Integration of immigrants
Currently, Germany requires their immigrants to undergo a naturalization process, which includes a naturalization test of knowledge of its social and legal system, the ability to speak fluent German, and a means to secure a living in the country. This is to ensure that new migrants will be able to participate in the society.
The EU migrants were not properly integrated at first as they were initially thought to be transient migrants who will eventually return to their home countries, and thus there was a lack of effort to integrate them into German society. For example, they had poorer education opportunities and poor German language skills, leading to poor job prospects and unable to climb the social ladder, and participate in society. They also live in older cities in Germany, closer to their workplaces, forming migrant neighborhoods. It is proven that this integration has been effective in encouraging the active contributions of these immigrants and/or their children. As of 2012, many of them occupy careers from different sectors, and even high-ranking job positions. They are also highly entrepreneurial, with more than 700,000 people with a migrant background running their own company (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, n.d.). |
The chart of the naturalisation rates in Germany between 1999 and 2011 shows that after the introduction of new requirements in 2000, naturalisation of immigrants increased slightly. Overall, there was a decline from 2000 to 2008 with a short-term increase in 2006. This chart also shows, the rate of naturalization since early 2000s is significantly lower as compared to that of 1999-2001, even though the naturalization rates have been slowly increasing since 2008.
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