Germany has long been one of the top destinations for citizens of North Macedonia seeking better living and working conditions. According to the latest data from Central Registry of Foreigners (AZR), 161,044 citizens of the RMV live in this European country, making Macedonia one of the 25 countries with the largest diaspora in Germany.
In a country with over 14 million foreigners, Macedonian citizens are 22nd in number, right after China and Iran, and ahead of Vietnam. The data confirms the long migration from Macedonia, but also the stable presence of the Macedonian community in the German labor market. What is not included in this figure are the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia who left for Germany with Bulgarian passports.
Balkan countries have traditionally had a strong presence in Germany. RMV citizens are part of a broader wave of labor migration along with citizens from Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece.
The number of citizens of countries in the region living in Germany is:
Bulgaria – 422,787
Croatia – 414,555
Greece – 347,486
Kosovo – 322,571
Serbia – 262,479
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 246,724
Macedonia – 161,044.
Ukrainians cross Turkey
Turks remain at the top of the list, with around 1.52 million inhabitants, but their dominance is under threat. Due to the war in February 2022, the number of Ukrainians in Germany has increased dramatically and now exceeds 1.4 million, making them the second largest group of foreigners. By comparison, at the end of 2020, only around 135 thousand Ukrainians lived in Germany.
In total, 14,077,867 foreigners live in Germany, or 16.8 percent of the population. If people with a migrant background – children of foreigners born in Germany, naturalized persons and recent immigrants – are included, the figure rises to 25.2 million, or over 30 percent of the population.
