Record number of immigrants living in Germany: official data

The number of immigrants living in Germany hit record in 2014, as people from other European countries flooded into Europe's biggest economy in recent years to look for jobs, official data showed Monday.

In 2014, 10.9 million immigrants were living in Germany, 10.6 percent more than in 2011 and the highest since 2005 when the data was first collected, German federal statistical office Destatis said.

The immigrant population has been increasing year by year since 2011, according to Destatis. During the past four years, 620,000 people arrived from Germany's European neighbors like Poland, Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary. Immigrants from China, Syria and India also increased significantly since 2011.

Destatis said employment was the most important motivation behind immigration since the outbreak of financial crisis in 2008. For 28.1 percent of immigrants came to Germany during the period, looking for jobs was their main purpose. Between 2000 and 2007, only 16.5 percent of immigrants came to Germany for that reason.

It also reported that the number of people with immigration backgrounds living in Germany, including immigrants since 1950 and their children born in Germany as well as foreign residents, reached 16.4 million in 2014, nearly one fifth of the country's total population.

Immigrants were an important supply of population in the aging German society. A recent report expected that German total population would decline to less than 80 million by 2030 when more than half of them would be aged over 48 years old.

For an economy relying on manufacturing, this trend means a lack of young laborers and skilled workers. German business has called for the government to take responsive measures and introduce a welcoming environment for immigrants in order to attract more skilled workers from abroad. Endit