The population of Berlin has grown by almost 10 percent since 2014. Which nationalities have been coming and going from the city in the past decade?

How has the Berlin population changed since 2014?

Berlin has changed immensely over the past decade, and so have Berliners. A comparison of population statistics in 2014 and 2024, carried out by local broadcaster rbb, has found which nationalities have been coming and going from the capital in the past decade.

One figure jumps out: while there were just 3.579 Indian nationals living in Berlin back in 2014, this figure has increased to 41.472 in 2024, a whopping 1058,8 percent increase. 

These statistics reflect a nationwide trend of more Indians coming to Germany for work, often on EU Blue Card visas, to fill skilled worker shortages in STEM jobs, particularly IT. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, the number of Indian STEM employees in Germany rose by 558 percent.

The nationality group which saw the second-highest growth in Berlin between 2014 and 2024 was Afghan nationals. 24.400 people from Afghanistan now call Berlin their home, compared to 2.388 in 2014. However, Hamburg still has the largest Afghan diaspora of any European city; 40.000 Hamburgers have Afghan roots, according to 2021 figures.

Afghan migration to Germany has been rising since the late 1970s but has seen a sharp increase since 2015, as more Afghan nationals fled violence, persecution and fundamentalism to seek asylum in Europe.

Syrian nationals were the third biggest group to grow in Berlin, increasing from 6.471 in 2014 to 46.564 people in 2024, most of whom arrived seeking refuge from the Syrian Civil War. Ukrainians were the group with the fourth-largest population growth in Berlin between 2014 and 2024. 10 years ago, just 9.864 Ukrainians lived in the capital, compared to 70.501 today.

Turkish nationals still make up the biggest group of non-German Berliners

The long history of “Guestworker” ("Gastarbeiter") migration from Turkey to Germany makes it unsurprising that Turkish nationals are still the largest group of non-Germans living in Berlin, though this includes second-generation Turkish-Germans who may have been born in the capital but don’t have a German passport.

In 2014, there were 98.659 Turkish nationals living in Berlin. By 2019 there had only been a small increase to 98.940, and by 2024 to 109.585, meaning an 11 percent increase over the past decade. 

Of all the non-German nationality groups with over 10.000 people living in Berlin, only among Poles did more people leave than arrive. While there were 53.304 Polish nationals living in Berlin in 2014, this had decreased by 2,4 percent to 52.018 in 2024.

However, of non-German EU citizens living in the capital, Poles are still the largest group. Italians follow; 33.707 Italian nationals live in Berlin, which could also be attributed to Germany and Italy’s historic “Gastarbeiter” ties. Bulgarians are the third-largest group of non-German EU nationals in Berlin today. In 2024, there are 31.897 Bulgarian Berliners.

Like most major cities around the world, Berlin has been and continues to be a city of migration. In 2024, around 25 percent of the population does not have a German passport. However, with the federal government's recent decision to permit dual citizenship and Berlin’s citizenship office naturalising 100 long-term residents per day, statistics are likely to shift significantly before another reflection of the past decade is on the cards.

Thumb image credit: Aleksandrs Muiznieks / Shutterstock.com