Germany updates: Wadephul kicks off India trip in Bengaluru
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is in India's biggest tech hub as the two countries look to strengthen economic ties. DW has more.
Germany remains popular destination for international students
English-language courses, relatively low tuition fees and attractive career prospects are among the reasons why Germany remains a popular destination for foreign students, according to a new study by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Three-quarters of the 20,888 international students surveyed by the DAAD at German universities said they were "satisfied" with their decision to study in Germany and would recommend it.
Around two-thirds said they were planning on remaining in the country after graduation, and half said they had long-term career plans in Germany, with many wanting to start new businesses.
However, while around 75% of foreign students said they felt welcome on German campuses, others reported problems. Around half of foreign students — and also half of German students with immigrant backgrounds — said they had experienced occasional discrimination, particularly when looking for housing or dealing with German bureaucracy.
Some international students said they also experienced difficulties in making contact with German students.
Germany's population up 3.8 million since reunification — but sinking in former East
The total population of Germany was 83.6 million at the end of 2024, an increase of 3.8 million (+5%) since German reunification in October 1990, according to official government figures released on Tuesday.
But growth is far from uniform across the country, with the population of the territories of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), known as the "Neue Bundesländer" or "new federal states," decreasing from 14.8 million to 12.4 million (-16%) since reunification. The biggest population decreases are to be found in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt (-26%), Thuringia (-20%) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (-18%).
The population of the "Alte Bundesländer" (the "old federal states" which made up the former West Germany), on the other hand, is up 10% from 61.6 million to 67.5 million. The largest increases here have been in Bavaria (+16%), Baden-Württemberg (+14%) and Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (+13%).
This means that over 80% of Germans now live in the former West, and only 15% in the former East – plus 4% in the capital, Berlin (population: 3,685,265). However, the classic East-West patterns don't necessarily apply to Germany's cities, where a general trend is harder to identify.
For example, while the population of the eastern state of Saxony has dropped by 15%, the populations of its biggest cities, Leipzig and Dresden, have soared by 30% and 20%, respectively.
On the other hand, the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) remains Germany's most populous state (18,034,454) but the cities of Bochum (-10%) and Essen (-7%) have seen decreases. The biggest city in NRW, and the fourth-biggest in Germany, remains Cologne, which became a "Millionenstadt" (a city with a population of more than 1 million) in 2010 and continues to grow.
Finally, the new data also confirms that Germany is getting older. While the average age of all Germans at reunification in 1990 was 39.3 (39.6 in the West and 38.1 in the East), the average German is now 44.9 years old.
What's more, the average eastern German (47.6) is more than three years older than the average western German (44.5), reflecting the flow of younger Germans from the country's east to the west.
(Source:DW)
