Education
One percent more students in the 2023/2024 school year
The increase in the current school year can also be attributed primarily to immigration from abroad: the number of children and young people in the relevant age group (5 to 19 years) was 4 percent higher at the end of 2022 than at the end of 2021, it said. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
The number of students in Germany is increasing again. Immigration from abroad is the main reason. Many children and young people came from one country in particular.
The number of students at general education and vocational schools in Germany rose for the second year in a row. According to preliminary results, around 11.2 million students will be taught at these types of schools in the 2023/2024 school year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) in Wiesbaden announced on Thursday. That is one percent or 107,000 more students than in the 2022/2023 school year.
The increase in the current school year can also be attributed primarily to immigration from abroad: the number of children and young people in the relevant age group (5 to 19 years) was 4 percent higher at the end of 2022 than at the end of 2021, it said. “The number of foreign children and young people increased by 27 percent during this period.”
Immigrant Ukrainian students in particular are one reason for the increase in students, the experts explained. However, the influence of immigration cannot yet be quantified precisely, as the exact nationalities cannot be proven until the school statistics in autumn 2024.
Hamburg at the top
According to Destatis, 1.7 million of the approximately 11.2 million students in the 2023/2024 school year have foreign citizenship. That is 7 percent more than in the 2022/2023 school year. This means that 15 percent of all students in Germany have a foreign passport.
The number of students in general education schools rose by 1.3 percent to 8.8 million in the 2023/2024 school year compared to the previous one. At vocational schools, however, it fell slightly by 0.1 percent to 2.3 million.
The picture varies across countries: According to Destatis, Hamburg recorded the highest increase in students at 2.2 percent. Bremen and Brandenburg follow with 2.2 percent each. Baden-Württemberg comes last; according to the Federal Office, there was no change there.
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