The number of inhabitants in Germany is the highest that it's ever been, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Friday.

At the end of 2019, the total population was 83.2 million, which is 147,000, or 0.2% more than the previous year. The population has been growing continuously since 2011, according to the report, partially due to migration. The increase in 2019 in particular is because 300,000 people migrated to the country.

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At the same time, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 161,000. "Thus, both the migration surplus and birth deficit were lower than in the previous year," the report said. "This caused the overall rate of population growth to be lower than in the previous year."

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The rate growth of the foreign population slowed down, while the number of Germans also continued to fall: at the end of 2019, there were 72.8 million Germans and 10.4 million foreign citizens in the country. The proportion of foreigners increased from 12.2 to 12.5%. The average age of the population also increased by 0.1%, to 44.5 years old.

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The 2015 refugee crisis saw over 978,000 people migrate to Germany, resulting in a 1.2% population increase. In 2018, the increase was just 227,000, or 0.3%.  

The states that saw the highest increase in population numbers were Bavaria, with 48,000, followed by Baden-Württemberg with 30,000 and Berlin with 24,700.

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lc/rt (Reuters, epd)