Germany’s latest annual immigration report, released yesterday, shows that more immigrants moved to Germany in 2013 than in any year since 1993.
The report shows that 1.23 million immigrants came to Germany in 2013, with the vast majority (around three quarters) coming from fellow EU countries.
The highest percentage of new arrivals came from Poland (15.5 per cent), followed by Romania (11.4 per cent). German nationals returning from abroad were the third biggest group of all migrants settling in the country (9.7 per cent), while Bulgaria (5 per cent) and Hungary (4.9 per cent) were the next largest source countries.
Migrants from Russia were the largest non-EU nationals who settled in Germany in 2013.
The rise in immigration levels have been viewed positively by the German government, which has actively been looking to make the country more attractive for immigrants over the past couple of years.
“Tomorrow’s skilled workers, they’re not just going to suddenly start appearing,” Aydan Özoguz, the government’s representative for migration, refugees and integration, told German news channel N-TV. “We need to make sure that more people from all kinds of countries will consider coming to Germany,” she added.