People aged between 15 and 24 accounted for only 10% of Germany’s population at the end of 2024, according to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Further decline of the youth population has been prevented only by the influx of migrants and refugees, the agency noted.
The historically low figure was included in an agency factsheet published ahead of the International Youth Day on August 12. The relative size of Germany’s young population has remained effectively unchanged since 2021, hovering around the 10% mark, according to the FSO.
“The fact that it has not fallen further since then but has stabilized is mainly due to the immigration of predominantly young people following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022,” the agency said.
The share of the cohort “without immigration history” stands at just 8.6%. The highest share, 20.7%, are those born in the country to parents who had both immigrated.
A sharper demographic decline has been observed in Eastern Germany compared to the west of the country, with such states as Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saxony-Anhalt having the lowest share of young people, at just under 9%. The western city-states of Bremen and Hamburg, as well as the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, have the strongest 15-24 demographic but even the highest of them measured just over 11%.
The gradual demographic decline puts further strain on Germany’s economy, the head of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, has warned. “The skilled labor shortage remains a major challenge for Germany as a business location,” she said.
Over the past year, Germany’s industrial sector has shed more than 100,000 jobs and is expected to lose 70,000 more by the end of 2025, according to analysis by consultancy EY published back in June.
The country’s auto sector accounted for around 45,400 net job losses, becoming the hardest-hit segment of the economy.
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