More than 155,000 Germans left the country last year, the Federal Statistics Office said. That's around seven percent more than in the previous year.

The net emigration of Germans last year rose to a post-unification high of 51,906.

This was up considerably from the previous year. In 2005, the gap between the number of Germans leaving and returning was 16,764.

Favorite destinations

"Switzerland, the US and Austria were the top three destinations," said statistician Claire Brobecker.

The reasons for these trends is not included in the data received by the Federal Statistics Office. "We cannot measure this on the basis of the information we receive. It would be mere speculation," said Brobecker.

But the economy in Germany has been sluggish in recent years -- certainly in comparison with its Alpine neighbors. For the most part, Germans are believed to be escaping unemployment or seeking better pay and conditions.

Variations in mobility

The majority of those leaving came from western Germany and Berlin (143,000). Only 12,000 people from former communist eastern Germany emigrated.

The proportion of women among the eastern emigrants was higher than among those leaving western Germany.

The number of immigrants coming to Germany, which once drew millions of foreigners in the postwar economic boom years, has also dropped again. This has been the case since 2001.

But there are still more foreigners coming to Germany than leaving the country. Some 558,000 non-Germans moved to the country in 2006 and 484,000 departed.

Within Germany, the migration from the east to the wealthier west continued, with a net gain to the west of 54,000 people that is similar to recent years.