German remains the primary language for communication within most households in Germany, yet a significant portion of individuals with an immigrant background maintain multilingualism within their homes, a new report by Destatis shows.
According to the data, which derive from the 2022 microcensus, published on the occasion of International Mother Language Day on February 21, approximately 20.2 million people with a history of immigration in Germany, nearly a quarter, exclusively spoke German at home in 2022.
On the other hand, 54 per cent used at least one other language in addition to German to communicate with their family members.
Another 23 per cent of people with an immigrant background only spoke one or more languages other than German at home.
Descendants of Immigrants More Likely to Use German as Their Primary Language
The microcensus has also shed light on a generational shift in language usage, with the data collected showing that almost three-quarters of immigrants who arrived in Germany after 1950 spoke German at home in 2022, another 27 per cent did not. On the other hand, over 90 per cent of their direct descendants spoke German at home.
The languages topping the list of those used primarily at home instead of German are as follows:
- Turkish – 14 per cent
- Russian – 12 per cent
- Arabic – 10 per cent
- Polish – seven per cent
- English – six per cent
- Romanian – five per cent
79% of Entire Population Speak Only German at Home
In spite of the high rates of multilingualism at homes with immigrant origins, the majority of the German population as a whole speak only German at home, or 79 per cent.
In 2022, people with a history of immigration made up almost a quarter of the population in private households in this country. Of these 83.1 million people, almost 79 per cent spoke only German within their own four walls.
Another 16 per cent used at least one other language at home in addition to German, in only a third of which German was the predominantly spoken language.
German is one of the most famous languages in the world, with around 130 million people speaking German as their mother language or as a second language. It is also the most widely spoken mother language in the European Union and an official language in seven countries.
