Bavaria’s population grew faster in 2021 than in the previous year due to immigration. According to a statement on Wednesday, the State Office for Statistics in Fürth recorded more arrivals than departures. The increase in migration was 52,772 people, around 20,000 more than a year earlier. Most people came to the Free State from abroad, only a small proportion moved within the federal territory. The greatest increase in migration was in Swabia, followed by Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate.
According to the information, around 42 percent of the newcomers come from Europe and around 48 percent from Asia. The proportion of this group has more than doubled compared to 2020. This is due to increased immigration from Afghanistan and Syria, which can be explained by the withdrawal of NATO forces in May last year. Less than six percent of the immigrants are from North or South America, around four percent from Africa. The first figures from the current year show the effects of the Russian war of aggression, it said. In March, a total of 76,000 people with Ukrainian citizenship fled to the Free State, in February the figure was 2,623 and in January it was 237 people.