In 2024, the most populated federal state in Germany is North Rhine-Westphalia in the west, with a population of almost 18 million. The state capital is Düsseldorf. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the south rounded up the top three, both with over 10 million inhabitants.

The German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia accounted the largest electricity generating capacity in the country in 2024, with a capacity of approximately ** gigawatts. The two largest federal states in Germany, Bavaria and Lower Saxony, followed with **** and **** gigawatts of power generating capacity, respectively. By comparison, the two smallest federal states in the country, Bremen and Hamburg, had a capacity of *** and *** gigawatts that year.

This statistic shows the number of foreigners in Germany according to the Central Register of Foreign Nationals in 2023, by state. In 2023, North-Rhine-Westphalia had the most foreign nationals at over 3.2 million, followed by Bavaria with almost 2.4 million and Baden-Württemberg with around 2.2 million. Foreigners are those who are not German based on Article 116, Paragraph 1 of the German constitution. These include stateless persons and those with unclear citizenship as well as the population group with a migration background. Individuals with a migration background can either have immigrated into Germany or been born in the country to at least one parent who was born a foreigner.

In 2025 thus far, the highest number of asylum applications were recorded in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia at 13,435. Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg were among the leading three German states recording the largest asylum application numbers. The number of pending asylum applications had increased compared to the pandemic years, though numbers were not as high as in 2015 and 2016.

The largest number of motorcycles in Germany in 2024 could be found in the south-eastern state Bavaria, where just under *** million motorcycles were registered. The most populous state in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia had the second-largest motorcycle fleet of just over *******.

In 2025, North Rhine-Westphalia had the most passenger cars with electric drive in Germany, at over *******. Other German states with high numbers included Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

In 2023, the two largest cities in Germany, Berlin and Hamburg, had a housing shortage. That means that there were less housing units added to the stock than new households formed in those city-states. The southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had the largest housing shortage between 2021 and 2023.

Bavaria had the largest organic farming acreage among German states in 2023 at around *** thousand hectares. This was an increase compared to the year before. Most states saw an annual increase in acreage during the years shown. However, in Rhineland-Palatinate the number decreased yearly over the timeline shown.

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Germany was split into four zones, each administered by France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union respectively. In 1949, the Soviet-controlled zone formed the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), while the rest became the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In this time, Berlin was also split into four zones, and the three non-Soviet zones formed West Berlin, which was a part of West Germany (although the West's administrative capital was moved to Bonn). One population grows, while the other declines Between 1949 and 1961, an estimated 2.7 million people migrated from East to West Germany. East Germany had a communist government with a socialist economy and was a satellite state of the Soviet Union, whereas West Germany was a liberal democracy with a capitalist economy, and western autonomy increased over time. Because of this difference, West Germany was a much freer society with more economic opportunities. During the German partition, the population of the west grew, from 51 million in 1950 to 62.7 million in 1989, whereas the population of East Germany declined from 18.4 million to just 16.4 million during this time. Little change after reunification In 1989, after four decades of separation, the process of German reunification began. The legal and physical barriers that had split the country were removed, and Germans could freely travel within the entire country. Despite this development, population growth patterns did not change. The population of the 'new states' (East Germany) continued to decline, whereas the population of the west grew, particularly in the 1990s, the first decade after reunification. The reasons for this continued imbalance between German population in the east and west, is mostly due to a low birth rate and internal migration within Germany. Despite the fact that levels of income and unemployment in the new states have gotten closer to those reported for the west (a major obstacle after reunification), life and opportunities in the west continue to attract young Germans from rural areas in the east with detrimental effect on the economy and demography of the new states.

In 1800, the region of Germany was not a single, unified nation, but a collection of decentralized, independent states, bound together as part of the Holy Roman Empire. This empire was dissolved, however, in 1806, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras in Europe, and the German Confederation was established in 1815. Napoleonic reforms led to the abolition of serfdom, extension of voting rights to property-owners, and an overall increase in living standards. The population grew throughout the remainder of the century, as improvements in sanitation and medicine (namely, mandatory vaccination policies) saw child mortality rates fall in later decades. As Germany industrialized and the economy grew, so too did the argument for nationhood; calls for pan-Germanism (the unification of all German-speaking lands) grew more popular among the lower classes in the mid-1800s, especially following the revolutions of 1948-49. In contrast, industrialization and poor harvests also saw high unemployment in rural regions, which led to waves of mass migration, particularly to the U.S.. In 1886, the Austro-Prussian War united northern Germany under a new Confederation, while the remaining German states (excluding Austria and Switzerland) joined following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871; this established the German Empire, under the Prussian leadership of Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 1871 to 1945 - Unification to the Second World War The first decades of unification saw Germany rise to become one of Europe's strongest and most advanced nations, and challenge other world powers on an international scale, establishing colonies in Africa and the Pacific. These endeavors were cut short, however, when the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent was assassinated in Sarajevo; Germany promised a "blank check" of support for Austria's retaliation, who subsequently declared war on Serbia and set the First World War in motion. Viewed as the strongest of the Central Powers, Germany mobilized over 11 million men throughout the war, and its army fought in all theaters. As the war progressed, both the military and civilian populations grew increasingly weakened due to malnutrition, as Germany's resources became stretched. By the war's end in 1918, Germany suffered over 2 million civilian and military deaths due to conflict, and several hundred thousand more during the accompanying influenza pandemic. Mass displacement and the restructuring of Europe's borders through the Treaty of Versailles saw the population drop by several million more.

Reparations and economic mismanagement also financially crippled Germany and led to bitter indignation among many Germans in the interwar period; something that was exploited by Adolf Hitler on his rise to power. Reckless printing of money caused hyperinflation in 1923, when the currency became so worthless that basic items were priced at trillions of Marks; the introduction of the Rentenmark then stabilized the economy before the Great Depression of 1929 sent it back into dramatic decline. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi government disregarded the Treaty of Versailles' restrictions and Germany rose once more to become an emerging superpower. Hitler's desire for territorial expansion into eastern Europe and the creation of an ethnically-homogenous German empire then led to the invasion of Poland in 1939, which is considered the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Again, almost every aspect of German life contributed to the war effort, and more than 13 million men were mobilized. After six years of war, and over seven million German deaths, the Axis powers were defeated and Germany was divided into four zones administered by France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.. Mass displacement, shifting borders, and the relocation of peoples based on ethnicity also greatly affected the population during this time. 1945 to 2020 - Partition and Reunification In the late 1940s, cold war tensions led to two distinct states emerging in Germany; the Soviet-controlled east became the communist German Democratic Republic (DDR), and the three western zones merged to form the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Additionally, Berlin was split in a similar fashion, although its location deep inside DDR territory created series of problems and opportunities for the those on either side. Life quickly changed depending on which side of the border one lived. Within a decade, rapid economic recovery saw West Germany become western Europe's strongest economy and a key international player. In the east, living standards were much lower, although unemployment was almost non-existent; internationally, East Germany was the strongest economy in the Eastern Bloc (after the USSR), though it eventually fell behind the West by the 1970s. The restriction of movement between the two states also led to labor shortages in t...

As of July 2021, over ****** open accommodation establishments were counted in Bavaria. This means that Germany's largest federal state had the most accommodation establishments nationwide. The federal state of Baden-Württemberg followed with around ***** open accommodation establishments.

This statistic illustrates the ownership rate of residential property in Germany as of 2013, by federal state. It can be seen that the largest ownership rate in Germany was found in Saarland at that time, with property ownership standing at ** percent.

In 2023, North Rhine-Westphalia was the German federal state with the largest volume of motor vehicle ownership transfers. At nearly *** million ownership changes, Bavaria was the only other state to reach the *** million transfer threshold.

In five out of Germany's sixteen federal states the AfD Party is expected to win the highest share of the vote, with their support strongest in the east of Germany, and the state of Thuringia in particular. The CDU won the highest share in eight states, with the SPD winning the largest share in Hamburg, and Bremen, while Die Linke winning the highest share in Berlin.

As of January 1st, 2024, the public electric vehicle charging network in Bavaria had a total capacity of nearly ******* kilowatts, making it the German federal state with the largest charging capacity. Bavaria was the German state with the most public charging points, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, which also completed the top three of the total capacity ranking.

As of January 2025, Bavaria in the south of Germany had the most publicly accessible charging points. Other leading states included North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.

The city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen were the states with the three highest crime rates in Germany in 2020, while the federal state of Bavaria had the lowest. Urban areas generally have higher crime rates than rural ones, making it difficult to compare Germany's three city states with the much larger federal states, which typically cover quite large areas. The federal state with the highest crime rate was Saxony-Anhalt at 7996 crimes per 100 thousand people, compared with the German average of 6209.

As of January 1st, 2024, Bavaria had the largest public electric vehicle charging network in Germany, at over ****** chargers. North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg were the second and third federal states with the largest charging infrastructure, and the only other states to have over ****** available charging points.

In 2024, Germany was the leading EU country in terms of population, with around 85 million inhabitants. In 2050, approximately 89.2 million people will live in Germany, according to the forecast. See the total EU population figures for more information. The global population The global population is rapidly increasing. Between 1990 and 2015, it increased by around 2 billion people. Furthermore, it is estimated that the global population will have increased by another 1 billion by 2030. Asia is the continent with the largest population, followed by Africa and Europe. In Asia,the two most populous nations worldwide are located, China and India. In 2014, the combined population in China and India alone amounted to more than 2.6 billion people. for comparison, the total population in the whole continent of Europe is at around 741 million people. As of 2014, about 60 percent of the global population was living in Asia, with only approximately 10 percent in Europe and even less in the United States. Europe is the continent with the second-highest life expectancy at birth in the world, only barely surpassed by Northern America. In 2013, the life expectancy at birth in Europe was around 78 years. Stable economies and developing and emerging markets in European countries provide for good living conditions. Seven of the top twenty countries in the world with the largest gross domestic product in 2015 are located in Europe.

The number of one-person households in Germany has been increasing in the last decade, while the opposite was true for three-person homes. In 2024, around ** million German households had one occupant, while roughly **** million households had three people living in them. Aging population These trends may be rooted in various reasons, such as population developments, aging, urbanization, individual lifestyles, flexible living arrangements. When looking at the growing number of one-person households, depending on the age group, this increase may be due to being single, for example, as well as an older person living alone. The ************* of the German population was aged 40 to 59 years, followed by those aged 65 and older. In terms of housing situations, **** were renting. Residential building construction in Germany struggled somewhat in recent years. Decreasing household member numbers It is not just in Germany that households are decreasing in size. A similar trend has been seen in the United States. Household size is often very dependent on the financial status of individuals. Those with more money will often opt to live alone, whilst those on a lower income may have no choice but to have roommates or to continue living with their family.