More and more Germans are choosing to live abroad, and new data shows a clear preference for neighboring countries. Switzerland and Austria remain the top destinations, while Spain is once again gaining popularity among those moving beyond the German-speaking world.
Switzerland continues to be the most popular European emigration destination for Germans. As of early 2024, nearly 323,600 people holding German citizenship were living in the neighboring country, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This represents an increase of 2.4 percent, or 7,600 people, compared with the previous year. The number of Germans residing in Switzerland has been rising steadily for years: within a decade, it has grown by 10.7 percent, equivalent to 31,300 more Germans.
In second place among the most popular European emigration destinations for Germans is Austria, another neighboring country. At the beginning of 2024, more than 232,700 German citizens were living there. Compared to the previous year, the increase was higher than in Switzerland, at 3.4 percent, or more than 7,700 people. Over the past ten years, the number of Germans in Austria has grown by 41.2 percent, or nearly 68,000. Both countries share certain advantages for German emigrants: the geographical proximity and the absence, in part, of language barriers make relocation easier.
Spain ranks third among the most popular European emigration destinations for Germans, making it the first country outside the German-speaking region. As of early 2024, more than 128,000 German citizens were living there. This marks an increase of 1.8 percent, or nearly 2,300 people, compared to the previous year. While the number of Germans in Spain had been in continuous decline between 2014 and 2021, a reversal of this trend has been observed since 2022. Nonetheless, at the beginning of 2024, there were still 9.8 percent fewer Germans in Spain, nearly 13,900 people less, than at the beginning of 2014.
About the data
The data comes from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The most recent data for Switzerland was provided by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS). The figures published by Eurostat reflect the number of Germans living abroad in Europe as of January 1, 2024, while the figures from Switzerland refer to December 31, 2023.
For the United Kingdom, data is only available up to 2019, and therefore was not included in the current comparison. In 2019, nearly 142,400 Germans were registered as living in the United Kingdom.Germans who also hold the citizenship of their country of residence are not counted as Germans in this statistic.
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