Iraqis in Germany

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Iraqis in Germany
Iraker in Deutschland
Distribution of Iraqi citizens in Germany (2021)
Total population
500,000+ (2025)[1][note 1]
Regions with significant populations
Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hanover
Languages
German and Mesopotamian Arabic,
also Kurdish (Sorani and Kurmanji dialects), Turkish (Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects), and Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
Religion
Islam (Shia and Sunni), Syriac Christianity, Mandaeism and Yezidism

Iraqis in Germany (Arabic: عراقيون في ألمانيا, romanized: ʻIrāqīyūn fī Almāniyā) include migrants from Iraq to Germany, as well as their descendants. The number of Iraqis and Iraqi-Germans in Germany was estimated at around 500,000 people in 2025. The Iraqi community is ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse and includes Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Mandaeans, Assyrians and Yezidis.

History and population

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The number of Iraqi citizens in Germany is estimated at around 250,000.[2] Between 2010 and 2019, Germany granted around 70% of Iraqi asylum applications, although most of these are subject to regular review.[3]

In 2019, Germany received 13,700 applications for asylum from Iraqis.[4] The country is already home to a sizeable Iraqi population, many of whom were granted protection by the German authorities after fleeing persecution from Saddam Hussein’s former regime.[5]

However, Germany has adopted another policy towards Iraqi refugees which has distinguished it from all other EU states, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has taken the unique step of systematically revoking the refugee status of thousands of Iraqis who were granted protection before 2003. Since the threat of persecution from the Iraqi Ba’ath regime is no longer present, 18,000 Iraqi refugees who entered the country before the 2003 invasion have thus had their refugee status revoked, placing them in a situation of uncertainty and precariousness. In June 2007, the German government asked the asylum authorities to temporarily suspend the revocation of refugee status for certain groups of Iraqis, such as those from Baghdad, single women, and members of religious or ethnic minorities such as Iraqi Assyrians.[5] 70,000+[6]

Number of Iraqis in larger cities
# City People
1. Munich 11,093
2. Berlin 9,396
3. Cologne 8,341
4. Bielefeld 5,561
5. Hamburg 5,400
6. Essen 5,367
7. Hanover 4,913
8. Nuremberg 4,745
9. Oldenburg 3,635
10. Pforzheim 3,563

Notable people

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 1st and 2nd generation only (omits 3rd generation and onward)

References

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  1. ^ "Population in private households by migrant background in the wider sense and by selected countries of birth". Statistisches Bundesamt. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  2. ^ "Ausländische Bevölkerung nach Geschlecht und ausgewählten Staatsangehörigkeiten". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  3. ^ "Schutzsuchende nach Schutzstatus, Ersteinreisejahr und Herkunftsländern". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  4. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische. "Demografie von Asylsuchenden in Deutschland | bpb". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  5. ^ a b "Iraqis in Europe" (PDF). unhcr.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  6. ^ "Sweden tightens rules on Iraqi asylum seekers". unhcr.org. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  7. ^ Barth, Alexander (2018), Schönheit im Wandel der Zeit (Image 45 of 67), Neue Ruhr Zeitung, archived from the original on 27 June 2021, retrieved 27 March 2021, Yasemin Mansoor (Jahrgang 1979) ist Miss Germany 1996. Die damals 16-Jährige brach brach den Rekord als jüngste gewinnerin des schönheitswettbewerbs. Später arbeitete die Tochter irakisch-türkischer Immigranten als Fotomodell und produzierte Popmusik mit der Mädchenband "4 Unique...