Germany's Syrian community — facts and figures

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, millions of Syrians have fled. Most of them have remained in Syria as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or have sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt.

Many of them have taken refuge in Europe, particularly in Germany.

How many Syrians live in Germany?

According to the German Federal Statistical Office, around 973,000 Syrians were living in Germany at the end of 2023. Some 712,000 of them have been granted refugee status, which includes asylum seekers with pending applications and asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected but who have been granted temporary protection on humanitarian grounds.

A significant number of these people came to Germany in 2015 when more than 320,000 Syrians sought protection. While many of them now have a permanent residence permit, fewer have been granted a temporary stay order. This means that although they can stay temporarily, their legal situation remains uncertain. Often, this group only has limited access to work and educational opportunities.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, Syrian nationals were the largest group of naturalized citizens last year. Their number rose to 75,500. On average, they lived in Germany for 6.8 years before receiving a German passport. By the end of 2023, more than 160,000 Syrians had been granted German citizenship. 

Germany stops processing Syrian asylum applications after Assad ouster

In 2024, Syria was once again the most common country of origin for those seeking asylum in Germany. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, almost 75,000 asylum applications were submitted by Syrians by November, followed by 34,300 from Afghanistan and around 29,600 from Turkey.

As of December 9, however, one day after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) issued an immediate freeze on asylum applications from Syrian citizens. According to BAMF, this applies to 47,270 pending asylum applications from Syrians, including around 46,000 preliminary applications. The new situation in Syria does not currently impact ongoing cases.

Around 236,000 asylum applications have been submitted in Germany so far this year. This does not include refugees from Ukraine, as they are granted temporary protection status without an asylum procedure.

The majority of Syrian refugees in Germany are men, while only around 41% are women. Overall, Syrians in Germany tend to be younger than the general population: on average, they are around 25 years old. Around 37% are minors.

According to BAMF statistics, more than 60% of those who applied for asylum in Germany between 2017 and 2023 were married. Many of the children of Syrian refugees were born in Germany. Between 2019 (when the survey began) and 2024, this amounted to around 56,200 children.

More than 60 % of the Syrians who have applied for asylum in Germany since 2015 are Arab. Around one-third belong to the Kurdish minority. A clear majority of more than 90% are Muslim, less than two percent are Christian, and around one percent are Yazidi.

Where in Germany do Syrians live?

The majority of Syrians live in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg, which are particularly attractive because of the population density — which applies to North Rhine-Westphalia in particular — and because they offer better job opportunities. Large cities such as Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg also offer access to support programs and networks. Rural regions tend to be less popular because they offer fewer opportunities for integration and employment.

Compared to other refugee groups, Syrian refugees are generally considered well-qualified. Almost half of those who came to Germany between 2015 and 2017 had a high school or university degree. Among refugees who came to Germany later, the figure was more than a third. In the 2022/23 school year, around 186,000 Syrian pupils attended public schools in Germany, and another 50,000 attended vocational schools.

Language barriers and obstacles in recognizing professional qualifications

According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 226,600 Syrians are currently employed in jobs with social security coverage (as of May 2024). Around 279,600 Syrians were registered with the Federal Employment Agency as "looking for work" at the end of November 2024. Of these, 155,100 are "unemployed." This means that they are currently in the labor market. Their unemployment rate is 37%.

Many work in the construction, catering, and care sectors, and there is a rapidly growing interest in further education and professional qualifications. The biggest obstacles to employment are language barriers and problems with recognizing Syrian professional qualifications.

Syrians invaluable for German healthcare system

Syrian workers play a particularly important role in the healthcare sector, where they perform urgently needed services. Many of them have been able to enter the nursing profession thanks to specialized training programs.

If these people choose to or are forced to return to their home countries following the end of the Assad dictatorship — as some politicians are already calling for — the existing shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare system could worsen. The German Ministry of Health has bemoaned that there are already around 200,000 vacancies in the nursing sector.

This article was originally written in German.

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