(de-news.net) – More than one quarter of Germany’s population has an immigration background, a demographic pattern that is partially reflected within the country’s education system, though to differing degrees. Ahead of the International Day of Education on January 24, the Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis) released figures indicating that 29 percent of students enrolled in general education schools in 2024 had an immigration background. By comparison, this characteristic applied to only 11 percent of teachers, pointing to a pronounced structural gap between the composition of the student population and that of the teaching workforce.
Among students, the share of those with an immigration background was identical for boys and girls, each accounting for 29 percent. Within the teaching profession, however, modest gender differences were evident. Nearly one in eight female teachers was reported to have an immigration background, while the proportion among male teachers was closer to one in ten. For statistical purposes, an immigration background is defined as applying to individuals who themselves, or whose two parents, immigrated to Germany after 1950. Beyond this group, 59 percent of students were classified as having no immigration background, while a further 12 percent had only one parent who immigrated to Germany. Among teachers, an additional 5 percent reported having a single immigrant parent, whereas a substantial majority—84 percent—did not report any immigration background.
The data also illustrate a clear upward trend over the past five years in the proportion of both students and teachers with an immigration background in general education schools. In 2019, 26 percent of students fell into this category, three percentage points fewer than in 2024. A similar, though less pronounced, increase was observed among teachers, where the share rose from 9 percent in 2019 to 11 percent in 2024, representing a two-point increase over the same period.
These findings are derived from the microcensus, an annual sample survey that collects self-reported information from approximately 1 percent of Germany’s population. To generate conclusions applicable to the population as a whole, the results are extrapolated using official population benchmarks. The analysis is limited to individuals living in private main-residence households; populations residing in communal accommodations, including refugees housed in group facilities, are not captured in the data.