Bavaria grows and grows - that's how it was for years.
Each time there has been an increase in the population, mainly due to immigration from home and abroad.
Suddenly there is now an opposite development.
For the first time in more than ten years, the number of residents in Bavaria is shrinking.
The corona crisis and its consequences are responsible for this.
However, some regions are up.
Munich - The last time it was over ten years ago: The number of
inhabitants in Bavaria
is declining slightly.
As of June 30, the Free State had 13.12 million people - 1200 fewer than at the beginning of the year, reports the
Bavarian State Office for Statistics
.
In the first half of 2019, the Bavarian population had grown by over 20,000 people.
In the years before there was a plus every time.
The only exception: the first quarter of 2009, when there was also a
decline
.
At that time, the population fell by 25,000, says Gunnar Loibl from the State Statistical Office in Fürth.
The decline is an exception, because Bavaria has actually been a
growth region
for decades
.
Since 1960 (9.5 million) there has been an increase of over 3.5 million citizens.
The reason for the sudden minus now is the
Corona crisis *
.
The closure of the borders and the lockdown have led to the new development, says Bavaria's Interior Minister
Joachim Herrmann
(CSU).
"The
temporary standstill of the economy and the cuts in the labor market
were also clearly felt in Bavaria."
Bavaria: population numbers declining - less “migration increase” than in previous years
Statisticians name several factors that led to the minus.
On the one hand, the
decline in immigration
.
Despite the crisis, 800 people immigrated from other federal states and 9,100 people from abroad.
But this gain of a total of 9,900 people - the statisticians speak of a
"migration plus"
- is significantly less than in previous years.
For comparison: In the first half of 2019, the "migration increase" was still over 30,000 people.
There is also another trend: Bavaria traditionally records
more deaths than births
.
It was the same this time.
In the first half of the year, 8,700 more people died than were born.
If you take into account
"booking-related" corrections
to the population statistics - individual municipalities had corrected their population and have now reported this - the result is the new trend: Bavaria is shrinking!
Population numbers in Bavaria are falling - but not everywhere
However, and that makes it a bit complicated, not everywhere.
In
Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and Swabia
there was still slight growth even in the first half of 2020.
But the decline was all the more pronounced in the other government districts such as
Upper Palatinate
or
Franconia
.
(Dirk Walter) * merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network
In our news ticker we keep you up to date on the corona developments in Bavaria.
Most recently, the corona rules in the Free State * were tightened again.