Sachsen-Anhalt - Population
The current population of Sachsen-Anhalt is 2.5 million people, a good fifth of whom live in the urban districts of Halle, Magdeburg and Dessau. With an average population density of 125 inhabitants per square kilometre it is the most sparsely populated area in Germany after Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg. Regional differences within Sachsen-Anhalt become clear if we compare the agricultural north, with 44 to 58 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the more industrialised south, with more than 200. The population of Sachsen-Anhalt has fallen by 1.1 million - more than a quarter - since 1950. The losses occurred mainly in the 1950s and at the beginning of the 1990s. With the opening of the borders between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, the population fell by almost 40 000 in 1989, more than 91 000 in 1990 and a further 51 000 in 1991. The population has fallen every year since 1967.
Births exceeded deaths every year from 1950 to 1971, whereas deaths have exceeded births every year since. In 1990 there were still 32 000 births compared with 39 000 deaths, but by 2002 the ratio had fallen to 18 000 births for 30 000 deaths. Net migration was positive only in the years 1993, 1994 and 1996, and only in the case of the foreign population. Even in those years there were net losses of German citizens.
The age structure has changed significantly in the last 12 years. Since it has mainly been young people who have moved away, there has been an above-average reduction of just over a third in the number of children and teenagers. The proportion of persons over the age of 65 has increased by almost 19%. The proportion of foreign nationals, who did not account for even 1% of the population in 1991, had almost doubled by 2002, but together with Thüringen, Sachsen-Anhalt has the smallest proportion of foreign nationals in the whole of Germany. The vast majority of foreign nationals are Vietnamese.
According to the most recent forecasts, the population will fall by 19% to 2.1 million by 2020 and the age pyramid will become inverted. Whereas nowadays 19% of the population are under the age of twenty and another 19% over the age of 65, around 14% will be younger than 20 but 27% older than 65 in 2020.
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