Meet the Germans - statistics show Teutonic realities

By Niels C Sorrells Oct 5, 2011, 13:31 GMT

Berlin - There are 81.8 million of them, fewer of them are being born than 60 years ago, but those that are are increasingly likely to be named Sophie or Maximilian.

And that's the state of Germany as it barrels through 2011.

The figures come from the Statistical Yearbook 2011, put out by the Federal Statistics Agency, Destatis. Although it largely confirms what most people know about Germany - the population is declining and ageing; more residents are foreign born - the figures at times reveal some interesting truths.

For instance: practitioners of alternative medicine. In 2000, the book reports, there were 14,000 of them. By 2010, that number had grown to 31,000.

There was a similar explosion in the masseuse/physical therapy industry: 34,000 practitioners in 2000; 58,000 in 2010.

The statisticians who presented the data in Berlin Wednesday were not there to analyse or parse the information.

That change could thus mean more Germans were feeling the need of a massage or hot stones therapy. It could also just mean that it has become easier to become registered in those fields.

The point, the authors say, is to represent the German experience as thoroughly as possible.

'We want to present a view of reality,' said spokesman Klaus Poetzsch. Questions of which facts seem curious and which seen normal are best left to the individual.

When pressed by the media, Destatis President Roderich Egeler said the book, the 60th version, did hold some surprises, especially when researchers compared today's data to that of the first edition, in 1952.

'I was surprised that there were twice as many children in 1950 as today,' he said, noting 678,000 births reported in Germany in 2010, down from a reported 1.1 million in 1950, for both East and West Germany.

Even more interesting, he said, is that a full third of modern births are reported to people who are not married.

The shift represents a fundamental change in German society, from a time when an illegitimate child was a mark of social shame, to the point where they are just part of the family next door.

Thus, for 2010, there were 11.8 million family units reported in Germany. Only 8.3 million of those were headed by a married couple. The remainder were headed by single parents (2.6 million) or a couple living together without the formality of marriage (804,000).

The point of the study was not to reflect on what it meant, but to report the facts. Thus, no matter who was having the children, they were most likely to name them Sophie (Sofie) or Maximilian in 2010.

Additionally, children born in Germany seem set to enjoy one of the highest standards of living globally, reported Destatis.

If anything, the data simply shows a society in change, hinting at potential changes to come. Thus, data showed increasing internet use among the ever-growing numbers of pensioned Germans revealing that 37 per cent of that group had opted to purchase medications online, instead of heading to one of the country's ubiquitous pharmacies.

Little wonder then, the very same day as the data was released, the German Pharmacists Association reported it expected a net loss of 180 pharmacies this year.

Nor was the report only about German family life. Those headed to Germany and still looking for a room to stay can take solace in the fact that, in 2010, the country sported 536 youth hostels, with 75,754 beds and 10.1 million overnight stays.

Also, the number of museums nationwide rose to 4,790 in 2009, from 4,712 in 2007 (though the number of visits declined to 106.8 million visitors, from 107.3 million).

In a potentially bad sign, wine production dipped from 9.3 hectolitres in 2009 to 6.9 hectolitres in 2010.

And, for those considering a move to Germany - 96,122 took German citizenship in 2009 - the bad news is that 11.9 per cent of Germans complained their apartment was too small.

On the plus side, only 1.6 per cent said there was too much litter on their street. Which, as all statistics do, just raised a question: is that 1.6 per exceptionally demanding, or are 1.6 per cent of German streets exceptionally dirty? Internet: www.destatis.de/jahrbuch