Country report non-discrimination : transposition and implementation at national level of Council Directives 2000/43 and 2000/78 : Germany [2024]

Like many other countries, Germany enjoys a plural society. It has autochthonous minorities, the Danish and the Sorbs, neither of which are very significant in number. The Friesians of German nationality and the Sinti and Roma of German nationality are also officially recognised as minorities. However, the most significant ethnic minority groups are immigrants, including the so-called guest workers (Gastarbeiter) and their descendants. In recent decades, specifically because of a significant increase in asylum seekers and refugees, a development that was intensified in 2022 due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, a heterogeneous ethnic community has formed in Germany. The latest statistical data shows that about 23.8 million people living in Germany have a migrant background.