Germany has a total of 10.8 million children under the age of 14. They accounted for 12.9 percent of the population at the end of last year, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden said on Tuesday ahead of World Children’s Day. Both the number and share of children have risen slightly over the past ten years.
In 2015, children accounted for 12.3 percent of the total population, representing 10.1 million children — slightly fewer than today. However, due to demographic change, the share of children has generally declined over the past decades. In 1975, almost one-fifth (19.6 percent) of the population in what is now Germany was under 14. By 1995, the figure had fallen to 15.1 percent.
The share of children is currently lowest in Saxony-Anhalt, where it stood at 11.2 percent at the end of 2025. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia also had very low shares, at 11.3 percent each. Baden-Württemberg and Bremen had the highest shares, at 13.4 percent each, followed by Hamburg and Bavaria at 13.2 percent each.
Germany is below the EU average. According to figures from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, children accounted for 13.3 percent of the EU population at the beginning of 2025, above Germany’s figure. Across the EU, Ireland had the highest share of children, at 17.0 percent. Sweden, at 15.6 percent, and France, at 15.3 percent, also had above-average shares of children under 14. Italy had the lowest share of children in the EU, at 10.9 percent, followed by Malta at 11.3 percent and Portugal at 11.7 percent.
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