Hessen - Population
Population boosted by immigration
Since 1950, the population of Hessen has increased from 4.3 million to just under 6.1 million inhabitants (end of 2002). The main cause of the 7.1% rise between 1989 and 2002 was the unification of Germany and the political upheavals in eastern Europe. Between 1989 and 1993, an average of just under 217 000 people per year moved to Hessen. Since the mid-90s, however, immigration to Hessen has been on the decline. The number of people moving to the region fell by almost 20% between 1993 and 2002 to just under 168 000. Over the same period, an average of 155 200 people per year were leaving Hessen, making the net population gain just 19 000 people per year.
Changes in generative behaviour meant that, in 1972, the number of births was lower than the number of deaths for the first time. Though the declining population was more than offset by immigration to the region, the age structure of the population did change in a number of respects. Until around 1970, the proportion of under-15s was fairly constant at around one fifth. The figure then dropped dramatically. By the end of 2002, barely 808 000 people, or 13.2% of the population, were aged under 15. Between 1950 and 2002, by contrast, the number of people aged over 65 has more than doubled, to over 1.05 million. At the same time, this age-group increased its share of the population as a whole from 13.3% in 1970 to the current level of 17.2%.
The labour shortage during the German economic miracle up to the 60s was filled by hiring more foreign workers. This caused the number of foreign nationals living in Hessen to rise sharply. After the end of the Cold War, greater numbers of people arrived from the countries of the former eastern block and from Yugoslavia following the civil war there. By the end of 2002, almost one in seven of Hessen's inhabitants were foreign nationals. Of these, the largest group by far was the Turks.
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