Bavaria’s population is set to boom – but not because of a rise in births, according to the latest prognosis by the Bavarian State Office for Statistics.
By 2023, the number of inhabitants of the southern German state is expected to reach 12.9 million, up from 12.5 million in 2012.
But the rise is not because of an increased birth rate. Overall, the state is expected to continue to count more deaths than births.
This population swell will die down again after 2032, statisticians said.
Study authors put the predicted boom down to large numbers of people moving to Bavaria, especially from other countries.
In 2012 76,000 foreigners emigrated to Bavaria, up from an annual average of 9,600 between 2000 and 2009.
The report predicted that the population in the south of Bavaria will continue to grow, whereas numbers in the northeast will start to decline.
The demographic change will alter the inner structure of the state, the report predicted, with cities such as Munich expected to see a 15.7 percent rise in population over ten years.
Meanwhile numbers of inhabitants are set to decrease in the state’s northern region of Upper Franconia by around 18 percent over the same time period.
The state’s population will also age significantly on average, with numbers of over 65s set to rise by 38 percent, the study said.