Germany: 20.8 million people with immigrant background

Nearly one quarter of Germany's population of 82 million has an immigrant background, according to statistics released Wednesday.

Germany's statistical agency Destatis said 20.8 million people in 2018 had a so-called "migrant background," defined as a person who is a migrant or has at least one parent not born as a German citizen. That's an increase of half a million people, or 2.5%, from 2017.

Read more: Refugees in Germany: Legal entry — without asylum

In 2018, 52% of those with a migration background were German citizens while 48% had a foreign passport. Of the 10.9 million with German citizenship, about half received it at birth.

Read more: Migrants fail German tests in increasing numbers 

The top reasons for immigration were for family (48%), employment (19%) and education (5%). Of those who came for family or employment reasons, 72% and 85% respectively came from European countries led by Poland, Romania and Italy.

Only 15% of migrants, half of whom are from the Middle East, came as refugees seeking asylum.

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