Germany’s fastest growing city

Leipzig is Germany’s fastest-growing city and is becoming ever more cosmopolitan, says the City’s Statistical Office’s latest report. On 1 October 2015, Leipzig had 560,647 inhabitants, up from 546,939 twelve months earlier. For the most part, Leipzig’s growth is the result of inbound migration from other parts of Germany. Nevertheless, in 2014 the city experienced a positive birth balance for the first time since the 1960s. During the first nine months of 2015 the birth surplus amounted to 200 people.

A significant share of those moving to Leipzig were non-Germans. The percentage of foreigners in Leipzig increased from 6.2% in early 2014 to 7.5% in October 2015. This number remains low, especially when compared to West German cities, but still represents a significant increase. The largest groups of foreign-born immigrants are Syrians (+1,556), Romanians (+541), Albanians (+259), Afghans (+236), Kosovars (+230) and Bulgarians (+203).

While growth rates remain high, unemployment rates continue to fall. The Porsche and BMW plants in the north of Leipzig have created thousands of jobs in the car industry. At the same time, Amazon and DHL have created a massive low-paid logistics sector.

It is expected that the population of Leipzig will surpass 600,000 well before the end of the decade. The population figure reached its historical peak in 1930, when there were 718,000 Leipzigers within an area less than half of the city’s current territory.

Here you can view the entire statistical report.

Harald grew up in Großpösna, a village just outside the boundaries of Leipzig, but it is only after living elsewhere for four years that he really came to appreciate the city he was born. He is an idealist, a Christian, a socialist, a Europeanist, and, above all, a true Leipzig-lover. He will write about Leipzig’s history and politics, both of which are rather inaccessible to our English-speaking audience.

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