Growing Population of Germans Resides in Berlin Due to Citizenship Acquisition

Berlin, Germany - The city of Berlin witnessed a significant shift in its demographic landscape in the last year, with a rise in the number of people acquiring German citizenship and a slight decrease in the number of foreign residents.

According to data from the Office for Immigration (LEA), a total of 25,000 people became German citizens in 2024, a number that continued to increase in the first half of 2025, with approximately 21,000 new citizens. This upward trend is attributed to the German Bundestag's decision in January 2024 to modernize nationality law, which made citizenship acquisition easier through legal reforms implemented mainly from June 27, 2024, onward.

The accelerated naturalization of residents in Berlin since the beginning of 2024 is particularly noticeable in the Mitte district, where the largest increase in the number of people with German citizenship was observed, amounting to 1,339 people (+0.5 percent). Other districts with high proportions of newly naturalized Germans include Neukölln (23.6 percent) and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (20 percent).

The number of Germans with a migration background also increased, growing by 11.2 percent to 657,999 people within six months. This growth is reflected in the overall proportion of people with a migration background (foreigners and Germans with a migration background) in Berlin, which now stands at 41.7 percent.

While the number of people with German citizenship has been on the rise, the number of foreign residents in Berlin decreased slightly in the first half of 2025 by 836 people or 0.1 percent. The reduction in foreign residents is partly due to a reform of the Citizenship Act that came into effect in 2024. The previous coalition government had eased the requirements for acquiring German citizenship, but the current political climate seems to be moving towards tightening these rules, as proposed by the Union and SPD.

The trend of increased naturalizations and decreased foreign residents was observed across all districts in Berlin, with seven out of twelve districts experiencing a decrease in the proportion of foreign residents. Reinickendorf and Steglitz-Zehlendorf districts saw significant decreases in the proportion of foreign residents (1.4 percent each).

Despite these changes, the total population of Berlin has continued to grow, with approximately 3.9 million people as of June 30, 2025, which is 5,500 people more than at the end of 2024. The highest proportions of people with a migration background were found in Mitte (22 percent), Neukölln (23.6 percent), and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (20 percent).

The Office for Immigration (LEA) has been responsible for naturalizations in Berlin since the beginning of 2024, and it has been working diligently to process a backlog of tens of thousands of cases that had built up in previous years, leading to a significant increase in naturalizations.

As the city continues to grow and change, the demographic shifts observed in 2024 and 2025 are expected to have far-reaching implications for the future of Berlin.