In 2019, the number of people of Croatian origin living in Germany rose by 22,000 to reach 416,000, according to the latest data released by Germany's federal statistics bureau Destatis on Tuesday.

At the end of 2018, there were 394,000 people of Croatian origin living in Germany and at the end of last year, their number increased to 416,000.

According to the latest statistical data, last year some 21.2 million people in Germany had immigrant background, accounting for 26 percent of the total population of Germany, a 2.1 percent increase compared to 2018, when they totalled 20.8 million.

“A year-on-year comparison shows that it was the lowest percentage increase since 2011. According to the definition used here, a person has a migrant background if they, or at least one of their parents, had not become German citizens by birth,” the German statistics bureau said.

As many as 52 percent of people with an immigrant background hold German citizenship. Two thirds of these are people whose ancestors came from some other European country, with Turkey and Poland the most numerous countries of origin.