Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
[DE1] Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Unit F24 Population, migration and integration
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Statistisches Bundesamt
D-65180 Wiesbaden
Germany
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
18 August 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
18 August 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
18 August 2026
3.1. Data description
Total usually resident population for the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council.
3.2. Classification system
Not applicable.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Not applicable
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The total population includes all persons who are or should be registered for living in a residence in Germany with an adjustment for the 12 months criteria. Thus, estimations were made to exclude temporarily present foreign immigrants and to include temporarily absent nationals and non-nationals. Temporarily presence or absence is estimated using observed rates of return after less than 12 months for the previous year. Persons with several residences in Germany are counted at the place of the main residence. Persons living in a residence in Germany are counted regardless of possible other residences used abroad. Members of diplomatic staff and their families are exempted from obligation to register and are usually not included. The same applies to persons which are exempted from obligation to register because of international agreements. Members of national armed forces, diplomatic staff and their families living abroad are included. Asylum seekers are counted in the population under application of the 12 months criteria.
Total population is first calculated with the component method. Births are taken into account if the mother had her residence in Germany at the time of birth. Deaths are also taken into account if the person had his/her residence in the country at the time of the event; Events occuring abroad are considered if they were reported to a vital events registrar in Germany. Persons moving to Germany have to register if they expect to stay for at least 3 months. Persons moving out of their residence in Germany to go abroad have to deregister when leaving regardless of expected duration of stay abroad. The result of the component method is then adjusted for the 12 months criteria as described above and for members of national armed forces, diplomatic staff and their families living abroad.
3.5. Statistical unit
Person.
3.6. Statistical population
Usual resident population of the country.
3.7. Reference area
Data are available at national level of geographical detail.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Reference year 2025.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Number of persons.
The reference date for population data is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December).
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation EU 1260/2013
Bevölkerungsstatistikgesetz
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Not applicable.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Usually resident population is only calculated for the purpose of delivery to Eurostat according to Article 4 of EU regulation 1260/2013. There is no national release calendar for this data.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Not applicable.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
For more information, see the annex sheet 10.6.1.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Quality reports for national population data are yearly published.
11.1. Quality assurance
Definition of usual residence is taken into account. Code of practice is applied.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
1. Nationals
Please indicate the type of duration of stay when counting a person with national citizenship as an usual resident with a minimum duration of stay of 12 months according to Art. 2(d) of Reg. 1260/2013.
1. Actual
2. Intended
3. Actual and intended
4. Other. Please specify below:
No
No
Yes
No
2. EEA Citizens
Please indicate the type of duration of stay when counting a person with EEA citizenship as an usual resident with a minimum duration of stay of 12 months according to Art. 2(d) of Reg. 1260/2013.
1. Actual
2. Intended
3. Actual and intended
4. Other. Please specify below:
No
No
No
Actual and expected. Expectation for migrants who arrived in the country during reference year ist estimated using rate of stay methods.
3. NON-EEA Citizens
Please indicate the type of duration of stay when counting a person with non-EEA foreign citizenship as an usual resident with a minimum duration of stay of 12 months according to Art. 2(d) of Reg. 1260/2013.
1. Actual
2. Intended
3. Actual and intended
4. Other. Please specify below:
No
No
No
Actual and expected. Expectation for migrants who arrived in the country during reference year ist estimated using rate of stay methods.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Data required for Qualified Majority Voting at EU level
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness
Data transmitted as requested in Art. 4.1 of Reg. 1260/2013.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
National population figures are usually considered as accurate. Thus, the adjustment of the total population figure after the last census (2022) was 1,5% of the population, although there where large-scale migration movements since the previous census 2011.
Several assumptions had to be made in the estimation procedure for the 12 months criteria; some of the variables required for the calculation of rates of stay may be missing, so that imputation procedures are used.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
For the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on the total population at national level at the reference time, in accordance with Article 2 ( c ), within eight months of the end of the reference year.
14.2. Punctuality
Data was delivered before transmission deadline.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The use of the definition of 'usual residence' for population ensures geographical comparability between countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The results since 2023 are not fully comparable with the previous years due to the rebasement of population data following the publication of the results of census 2022.
There were several methodological changes for the adjustment for the 12 months criteria:
In 2024 the method to estimate long-term migration and rates of stay was redesigned.
Since 2022 the estimation was adjusted for refugees from Ukraine with temporary protection. According to european guidelines, persons under temporary protection present on the reference date were to be included in the usually resident population. Ukrainian citizenship was used as proxy for estimating people with temporary protection, as this information is not available in the national migration statistics used for the estimation of total usual residence population. Therefore all ukrainians who arrived in the reference year and present at the end of the year are taken into account.
The method was adjusted for 2015 with a further differentiation by groups of countries to account for the particular structure of migration in that year with the massive arrivals of asylum seekers. Methodological analysis did not show the same effects for following reporting years, so that the regular estimation procedure has been used again from 2016 on.
The evolution of the national population figure from 2016 and 2017 on is not fully comparable with the previous years. One reason for that due to new IT-systems and methods administrative deregistrations of Germans could be better taken into account from 2016 on.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The total usually resident population transmitted by the national statistical offices to Eurostat in the framework of the Usually Resident Population data collection may differ from those available in National Accounts, Labour Force Survey or in the survey on Income and Living Conditions. The difference is given by the population coverage (see metadata specific to each domain).
15.4. Coherence - internal
The total usually resident population transmitted by the national statistical offices to Eurostat in the framework of the Usually Resident Population data collection may differ from those available in the rest of the Demographic domain. The difference is given by the population definition (see metadata specific to each domain).
Costs and burden were not evaluated.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Not applicable.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
National population statistics, statistics on migration flows (based on residents registers), Statistics on foreign population (based on the Central Register of Foreigners).
Central Register of Foreigners: 31.12 and 30.06, collection on 30.06 is exclusively used for the calculation of migrants according to Regulation EC 862/2007 and usually resident population.
18.3. Data collection
National population statistics: data are calculated using the component method, no direct data collection.
Migrations statistics: the local residents registration offices transmitt continuously data on the registered events (registrations, deregistrations, administrative registrations and deregistrations, changes of place of main residence, corrections) to the statistical offices of the Länder. After compilation and validation of the data, the statistical offices of the Länder send data to the Federal Statistical Office for computation of the nationals results.
In case a person has several residences in Germany, data are only collected from the register of the place of main residence.
Central Register of Foreigners: the administration responsible of the Central Register of Foreigners delivers an extract of the register with the statistical relevant variables to the Federal Statistical Office for the reference dates.
18.4. Data validation
National population statistics: Population data are calculated with the component method using validated data of the statistics on vital events and on migrations flows.
Migration data: There is a validation of single data for completeness, plausibility and double case through the statistical offices of the Länder. Results are further checked for global plausibility and consistency using expert assessment at the statistical offices of the Länder and at the Federal Statistical Office.
Data from the Central Register of Foreigners: Data of the Central Register are checked for completeness and plausibility of variables. Aggregates are compared with results of previous years and with other statistics to identify unexpected changes and check for errors or explainations.
18.5. Data compilation
Deletion of data delivered more than once and of irrelevant data. Missing or not plausible variables are either imputed or are completed after checking with the data provider. Variables are coded using national statistical classifications (e.g. classification of territorial units, classification of countries). The data providers (registrars of vital events and residents registration offices) also send corrections to previously transmitted data if there was a correction in the register. These corrections are processed by the statistical offices of the Länder and, if relevant, taken into account in the calculation of population figures.
18.6. Adjustment
The method used for adjusting total population to meet the 12 months criteria is described in Annex 10.6.1. The quantitative impact on total population figure is less than 0.1%. Since 2023 there is a further adjustment to include members of national armed forces, diplomatic staff and their families living abroad, the quantitative impact is about 0,01%.
Total usually resident population for the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council.
18 August 2026
The total population includes all persons who are or should be registered for living in a residence in Germany with an adjustment for the 12 months criteria. Thus, estimations were made to exclude temporarily present foreign immigrants and to include temporarily absent nationals and non-nationals. Temporarily presence or absence is estimated using observed rates of return after less than 12 months for the previous year. Persons with several residences in Germany are counted at the place of the main residence. Persons living in a residence in Germany are counted regardless of possible other residences used abroad. Members of diplomatic staff and their families are exempted from obligation to register and are usually not included. The same applies to persons which are exempted from obligation to register because of international agreements. Members of national armed forces, diplomatic staff and their families living abroad are included. Asylum seekers are counted in the population under application of the 12 months criteria.
Total population is first calculated with the component method. Births are taken into account if the mother had her residence in Germany at the time of birth. Deaths are also taken into account if the person had his/her residence in the country at the time of the event; Events occuring abroad are considered if they were reported to a vital events registrar in Germany. Persons moving to Germany have to register if they expect to stay for at least 3 months. Persons moving out of their residence in Germany to go abroad have to deregister when leaving regardless of expected duration of stay abroad. The result of the component method is then adjusted for the 12 months criteria as described above and for members of national armed forces, diplomatic staff and their families living abroad.
Person.
Usual resident population of the country.
Data are available at national level of geographical detail.
The reference date for population data is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December).
National population figures are usually considered as accurate. Thus, the adjustment of the total population figure after the last census (2022) was 1,5% of the population, although there where large-scale migration movements since the previous census 2011.
Several assumptions had to be made in the estimation procedure for the 12 months criteria; some of the variables required for the calculation of rates of stay may be missing, so that imputation procedures are used.
Number of persons.
Deletion of data delivered more than once and of irrelevant data. Missing or not plausible variables are either imputed or are completed after checking with the data provider. Variables are coded using national statistical classifications (e.g. classification of territorial units, classification of countries). The data providers (registrars of vital events and residents registration offices) also send corrections to previously transmitted data if there was a correction in the register. These corrections are processed by the statistical offices of the Länder and, if relevant, taken into account in the calculation of population figures.
National population statistics, statistics on migration flows (based on residents registers), Statistics on foreign population (based on the Central Register of Foreigners).
Annual.
For the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on the total population at national level at the reference time, in accordance with Article 2 ( c ), within eight months of the end of the reference year.
The use of the definition of 'usual residence' for population ensures geographical comparability between countries.
The results since 2023 are not fully comparable with the previous years due to the rebasement of population data following the publication of the results of census 2022.
There were several methodological changes for the adjustment for the 12 months criteria:
In 2024 the method to estimate long-term migration and rates of stay was redesigned.
Since 2022 the estimation was adjusted for refugees from Ukraine with temporary protection. According to european guidelines, persons under temporary protection present on the reference date were to be included in the usually resident population. Ukrainian citizenship was used as proxy for estimating people with temporary protection, as this information is not available in the national migration statistics used for the estimation of total usual residence population. Therefore all ukrainians who arrived in the reference year and present at the end of the year are taken into account.
The method was adjusted for 2015 with a further differentiation by groups of countries to account for the particular structure of migration in that year with the massive arrivals of asylum seekers. Methodological analysis did not show the same effects for following reporting years, so that the regular estimation procedure has been used again from 2016 on.
The evolution of the national population figure from 2016 and 2017 on is not fully comparable with the previous years. One reason for that due to new IT-systems and methods administrative deregistrations of Germans could be better taken into account from 2016 on.
