While refugees catch the headlines, most migrants come from other parts of Europe. Only 15% of 20.8 million people with an immigrant background came as asylum-seekers.
Nearly one quarter of Germany's population of 82 million has an immigrant background, according to statistics released Wednesday.
Germany's statistical agency Destatis said 20.8 million people in 2018 had a so-called "migrant background," defined as a person who is a migrant or has at least one parent not born as a German citizen. That's an increase of half a million people, or 2.5%, from 2017.
In 2018, 52% of those with a migration background were German citizens while 48% had a foreign passport. Of the 10.9 million with German citizenship, about half received it at birth.
The top reasons for immigration were for family (48%), employment (19%) and education (5%) The vast majority of those who came for family or employment reasons were from European countries.
Only 15% of migrants, half of whom are the Middle East, came as refugees seeking asylum.
Deutsche Welle