Greek immigrants in Germany are reaching a record number over the last twenty years, as last year, the greatest increase since 1993 corresponding to 4.1% was recorded.
As it was announced by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this large increase is due to the influx of citizens from the EU member-states, Poland and Hungary.
According to Destatis, the overall immigration into Europe’s largest economy, in combination with the highest number of births rather than deaths last year, contributed to this increase.
The statistics show that the number of Greeks was increased by 5.1%.
The number of Turks who are registered as residents of Germany fell by 2% last year.
While Turkish people continue to be the largest group of foreigners in Germany, (almost three times more than the Italians and the Poles, who rank second) many have returned to Turkey or have been granted German citizenship over the last years.
In contrast, the residents of the communist countries of Eastern Europe i.e. Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, continue to settle in Germany en masse. Only the number of Poles was increased by 13.6% last year.
A large increase occurred in immigration from countries affected by the crisis, such as Greece and Spain (9.1% increase).
The Reuters news agency notes, that Germany facilitates the living conditions for some foreigners, as it is concerned about the lack of specialized workers, and about the future impact of the aging population on the social security system.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
