Migration to Germany

Germany as a country of immigration

Staying in the new country can be permanent or only for a certain time. Many came to Germany to work. Others came for other reasons, for example as refugees or to join their families.

People still come to Germany from many countries today: to work, to study or to join their families.

The recruitment of guest workers

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Republic needed many workers. It concluded recruitment agreements with other states for this purpose. These agreements regulated the placement and the conditions of employment. The foreign workers recruited in this way were called “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers) at the time.

The first state recruitment agreement was concluded with Italy in 1955. This does not mean that no foreign people worked in Germany before then.

The term guest worker implied a stay that was only temporary. Later the Federal Republic concluded recruitment agreements with other states as well, including Spain, Greece, Portugal and Turkey. Many of those recruited, however, stayed permanently, brought their families over and built a new life here. Their children and grandchildren were often born in Germany. The word guest worker therefore no longer fits reality.

Turkey and the figures

People with a Turkish immigration history are the largest group in Germany by country of origin. There are around 2.6 million (as of 2024).

The figures depend, however, on how people are counted. Anyone who counts by immigration history arrives at a different result from someone who counts only those who immigrated themselves. Among those who immigrated themselves, Poland and Turkey are roughly level, with around 1.5 million each (as of 2025). Citizenship also leads to different figures. A single ranking therefore greatly simplifies the picture.

Contract labour in the GDR

Many foreign people worked in the German Democratic Republic (GDR; in German DDR) as well. The GDR concluded agreements on contract labour. The contract workers came from Vietnam, Poland and Mozambique, among other countries.

This system was a special, state-regulated form of labour migration. It was not the same as the recruitment of guest workers in the Federal Republic.

Sources and terms

The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) publishes such figures. It distinguishes, for example, by immigration history, by citizenship and by country of birth.

Anyone comparing information on origin always needs the source and the year of the survey. Good sources also state which definition they count by. The term migrant background is also not always defined in the same way in statistics. In official statistics it referred to people who were not born with German citizenship themselves, or who had at least one parent who was not. Comparisons over longer periods can also be made harder by changes in how the data is collected.

SourcesDie Bundesregierung: Zuwanderungsland Deutschland↗Die Bundesregierung: Gastarbeiter in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland↗Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Die Anwerbung türkischer Arbeitnehmer und ihre Folgen↗Statistisches Bundesamt: Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten nach Einwanderungsgeschichte und Herkunftsstaat↗