Status: 07/14/2021 11:17 a.m.
Last year, only 18,000 more people seeking protection were registered in Germany than in 2019 – the smallest increase since 2011. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this is also due to the corona pandemic.
The increase in the number of people seeking protection in Germany was lower last year than it has been since 2011. At the end of the year, just under 1.86 million people seeking protection were registered in the Central Register of Foreigners (AZR), according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The number rose by one percent or 18,000 people compared to the previous year. That was lower growth than in 2019 (plus three percent) and the lowest since 2011 (plus 0.5 percent).
According to the Federal Office, the development is probably also due to travel restrictions in the Corona crisis.
By those seeking protection, we mean foreigners who are staying in Germany on the grounds of international law, humanitarian or political reasons. They include people who are currently undergoing an asylum procedure, who have been granted temporary or permanent protection status, or who continue to reside in Germany after an asylum application has been rejected.
Net immigration down by a quarter
According to the Federal Office, the number of those seeking protection who actually entered the country last year was 68,000. At the same time, 41,000 asylum seekers left the country, so that the net immigration was 27,000. That was almost a quarter less than in 2019, when the number was 35,000.
According to the Federal Office, almost 80 percent of the people recorded in the statistics came in the years of the great refugee movements or before. 54 percent of those seeking protection reached Germany between 2014 and 2016. 25 percent had come to Germany before 2014. After 2016, 21 percent were registered for the first time in the central register of foreigners by the authorities.