The proportion of young people in Germany continues to remain at historically low levels. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday, 8.3 million people were aged between 15 and 24 at the end of 2025, representing 10.0 percent of the total German population. This low point for the share of young people began at the start of the 2020s.
Historically, young people constituted the highest share of the population during the first half of the 1980s, when the large cohorts from the so-called Baby Boomer generation were in their youth. Specifically, in 1983, one in six people (16.7 percent) in the modern Federal Republic of Germany was aged between 15 and 24.
The level of youth proportion changes significantly depending on whether or not immigration is included in the demographic analysis. If immigrants and their descendants are excluded, the share of people aged 15 to 24 in 2025 was 8.5 percent. However, among the population with an immigration history, this percentage rose to 12.2 percent. This group includes individuals or those whose parents have migrated since 1950. The higher percentage in this demographic is partly because the children of post-1950 immigrants are structurally younger. For instance, one-fifth (20.4 percent) of the descendants of two immigrant parents were in the 15 to 24 age group. A similar figure of 20.0 percent applied to people with one immigrant parent, while the share among immigrants themselves was 9.5 percent.
Regional disparities also affect the age structure and the percentage of young people. The 15 to 24 age group was overrepresented in the city-states of Bremen (11.1 percent) and Hamburg (10.5 percent), as well as in the large state of Baden-Württemberg (10.4 percent). Conversely, the proportion fell below the national average in Brandenburg (8.8 percent), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Saxony-Anhalt (all registering 9.1 percent).
Looking at the broader European context, Eurostat reported that at the beginning of 2025, the proportion of young people in the EU stood at 10.0 percent, slightly below the overall EU average of 10.7 percent. Across the EU, the highest share of 15- to 24-year-olds was found in Ireland (12.7 percent), followed by Denmark and the Netherlands (both 12.2 percent). Malta (9.4 percent) and Bulgaria (9.5 percent) recorded the lowest proportions of young people within the European Union.
