Emigration of young people from East Germany continues

Fewer people of working age in the east (excluding Berlin)

The decades-long development also contributes to the fact that the proportion of people of working age in the east is lower. According to the 2022 census, 57.5% of the population in the eastern German states (excluding Berlin) were aged between 18 and 64. In contrast, the proportion in the western German states was 61.6 percent. The lowest proportion of people of working age was in Saxony at around 57%, while the highest proportion was in Berlin at around 64%. In addition, the ten districts with the lowest proportion of 18 to 64-year-olds are all in the east. Dessau-Roßlau brings up the rear (53.4 percent).

Over all age groups, migration movements between East and West have been much more balanced over the past ten years. According to the data, last year, for the first time since 2016, more people migrated from the eastern German states to the western German states than vice versa. However, this migration loss was comparatively low at 3,000 people in total. Previously, there had been a slightly positive internal migration balance in the eastern German states as a whole from 2017 onwards - after decades of strong outward migration in some cases.