Immigration sends German birth rate to 30-year peak

The increase was almost entirely due to immigration, with the birth rate far higher among foreign residents than German citizens. 

The birth rate in Germany has risen to its highest level in more than 30 years, due largely to immigration, raising hopes that the country can reverse decades of population decline.

There was an average of 1.5 births for every woman living in Germany, for the first time since 1982, according to newly released government figures.

The increase was almost entirely due to immigration, with the birth rate far higher among foreign residents than German citizens. 

Germany has long been faced with what experts describe as a "demographic time bomb" from its ageing population, with fears there will not be enough people of working age to sustain the economy.

By comparison, the annual birth rate in the UK is 1.9, while in the US it is 1.88. In total, 738,000 children were born in Germany last year, compared with 715,000 in 2014. 

The rate among German citizens in 2015 was only 1.43, while the rate among foreign women resident in Germany was 1.95. 

The rise has been fuelled by long-term immigration rather than last year's influx of asylum-seekers.
It was the fourth year in a row the birth rate has risen, and throughout that time it has been higher among immigrants. 

The rate reached a low of 1.24 in 1994 and has been slowly recovering since. 

But it is still well below 2.1, the rate generally considered necessary by experts to sustain the population without immigration in a modern society where there are few infant deaths.
 

Mrs Merkel's government has already announced plans to increase school places to cope with the demand created by asylum-seekers.
 

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