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Indians in Germany: how many, why they come, and what they earn (2026 data)
311,130 Indian nationals lived in Germany at the end of 2025, 2.5 times as many as in 2018. Population, age, students, Blue Cards, first residence permits and wages, each figure with its official source and date.
311,130 Indian nationals lived in Germany at the end of 2025 (Destatis), 2.5 times the 124,095 of 2018, with an average age of 30.2. In 2025 Germany issued 49,023 first residence permits to Indians, 49% for study, and granted them 13,423 EU Blue Cards, 23% of all. India is the largest origin of international students (58,833 in winter 2024/25), and Indian full-time employees earn the highest median wage of any nationality, €5,393 a month at the end of 2024.
311,130 Indian nationals were living in Germany on 31 December 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). That is 2.5 times the 124,095 recorded at the end of 2018, and 33,675 more than a year earlier. Indians are the largest group of international students in Germany, receive more EU Blue Cards than any other nationality, and earn the highest median wage of any nationality working here full time.
Every number on this page comes from an official statistic or a study built on one, with the date it refers to. Where a figure could not be checked against its original source, it is left out rather than estimated.
At a glance
| What | Figure | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian nationals living in Germany | 311,130 | 31 Dec 2025 | Destatis |
| Growth since 2018 | 2.5 times (from 124,095) | 2018 to 2025 | Destatis |
| Share of all foreign nationals in Germany | 2.2% of 14,070,225 | 31 Dec 2025 | Destatis |
| Average age | 30.2 years (all foreigners: 38.2) | 31 Dec 2025 | Destatis |
| First residence permits issued to Indians | 49,023 | 2025 | Eurostat |
| Indian students at German universities | 58,833, the largest group | Winter semester 2024/25 | DAAD / DZHW |
| EU Blue Cards granted to Indians | 13,423, 23% of all | 2025 | Eurostat |
| Indians working full time | about 104,400 | 31 Dec 2024 | IW, from Federal Employment Agency data |
| Median gross monthly wage, full time | €5,393, highest of any nationality (Germans: €4,177) | 31 Dec 2024 | IW, from Federal Employment Agency data |
How many Indians live in Germany
The Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister) counted 311,130 people with Indian citizenship living in Germany at the end of 2025. The number has risen every year since at least 2018:
| End of year | Indian nationals | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 124,095 | |
| 2019 | 143,725 | +19,630 |
| 2020 | 150,840 | +7,115 |
| 2021 | 171,895 | +21,055 |
| 2022 | 210,385 | +38,490 |
| 2023 | 246,125 | +35,740 |
| 2024 | 277,455 | +31,330 |
| 2025 | 311,130 | +33,675 |
Indians now make up 2.2% of the 14.07 million foreign nationals in Germany.
What this count does not include. It counts citizenship, not origin. Indians who have become German citizens drop out of it, because India does not allow dual citizenship and naturalisation means giving up the Indian passport. Children born in Germany to parents who are German citizens are not in it either. The number of people of Indian origin in Germany is therefore higher than 311,130, but there is no official count of it to quote, so this page does not give one.
Who they are: young, and more men than women
Indians in Germany are much younger than the foreign population as a whole. Their average age at the end of 2025 was 30.2 years, against 38.2 for all foreign nationals.
| Age group | Indian nationals | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | 41,685 | 13% |
| 20 to 44 | 243,000 | 78% |
| 45 to 64 | 23,415 | 8% |
| 65 and over | 3,030 | 1% |
181,645 are men and 129,480 are women, a split of 58% to 42%. That pattern follows from how most Indians arrive: as students and skilled workers in their twenties and thirties, with families often following later.
Why they come
Eurostat counts the first residence permit each person receives, by reason. In 2025 Germany issued 49,023 first residence permits to Indian citizens, 45% more than the 33,813 of 2024:
| Reason | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Share in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | 15,706 | 12,533 | 23,889 | 49% |
| Family | 15,656 | 12,107 | 13,111 | 27% |
| Work | 12,289 | 8,358 | 11,069 | 23% |
| Other | 921 | 815 | 954 | 2% |
| Total | 44,572 | 33,813 | 49,023 |
Study is now the main route in by a distance: nearly half of all first permits in 2025. Many of those students later switch to a work permit from inside Germany, which this table does not show, because it counts only the first permit a person receives.
Students
In the winter semester 2024/25, 58,833 Indian students were enrolled at German universities. India is the largest country of origin by a wide margin, ahead of China (38,989) and Turkey (20,900), and accounts for 14.6% of all 402,083 international students in Germany.
India is also the leading country of origin among international academic staff at German universities: 6,547 people in 2024, 9.6% of all international academic staff.
If you are planning to study here, start with university admission, the top universities for Indian students, and the student visa from India.
Work: Blue Cards and wages
EU Blue Card. Germany granted 13,423 EU Blue Cards to Indian citizens in 2025, 23% of the 58,290 it granted in total. That is roughly three times the next nationality, Turkey, with 4,585. The count includes people already in Germany who switch to a Blue Card, for example after graduating, not only new arrivals.
| Year | Blue Cards granted to Indians | Share of all Blue Cards in Germany |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 18,110 | 26% |
| 2024 | 13,267 | 24% |
| 2025 | 13,423 | 23% |
India has been the top nationality in every one of these years. How to apply: Blue Card application from India, and for job seekers without an offer yet, the Opportunity Card.
Wages. Indian full-time employees in Germany earned a median gross wage of €5,393 a month at the end of 2024, the highest median of any nationality among full-time employees in Germany. That is well above the €4,177 median for German full-time employees and the €4,013 median for all full-time employees. About 104,400 Indians were working full time in Germany at that date, and only 8% of them were 45 or older.
The main reason is the kind of work. 30.7% of Indian full-time employees aged 25 to 44 work in academic STEM occupations, and the number of Indians in those jobs rose from 3,750 at the end of 2012 to 32,847 at the end of 2024. Indians aged 25 to 44 in academic STEM jobs earned a median of €6,172 a month. For what to expect in your own field, see software engineer salaries in Germany and the guide for Indian IT professionals.
Where they live
Destatis does not publish Indian nationals by federal state in its standard tables, so this page does not give a state breakdown. For what the cities most Indians move to are like to live in, see the best German city for Indians and the city guides for Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and NRW.
How to read these numbers
- Different sources, different dates. Population and age are at 31 December 2025, permits and Blue Cards are for the calendar year 2025, students are for the winter semester 2024/25 and wages are at 31 December 2024. Each is the latest published figure for its statistic as of October 2026.
- Rounded counts. The Central Register of Foreigners rounds every figure to the nearest multiple of 5 for data protection, so 311,130 is exact to within 2 people.
- Students are not a separate population. The 58,833 students are mostly already inside the 311,130, since nearly all of them hold Indian citizenship.
Sources
- Population, growth, sex and age: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Ausländerstatistik based on the Ausländerzentralregister, final results at 31.12.2025, published 2 April 2026. Tables Ausländische Bevölkerung nach ausgewählten Staatsangehörigkeiten, nach Geschlecht and nach Altersgruppen.
- First residence permits by reason: Eurostat, dataset
migr_resfirst(First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship), Germany, citizens of India, 2023 to 2025, data updated 28 September 2026. - EU Blue Cards: Eurostat, dataset
migr_resbc11(Persons subject to EU Blue Card decisions), Germany, decisions to grant, 2023 to 2025, data updated 5 August 2026. - Students and academic staff: DAAD and DZHW, Wissenschaft weltoffen kompakt 2026, based on the Destatis student statistics, winter semester 2024/25, and staff statistics for 2024.
- Wages, full-time employment and STEM jobs: Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, IW-Kurzbericht 1/2026, "Indische Beschäftigte verdienen weiterhin am meisten", an analysis of the Federal Employment Agency's wage statistics at 31.12.2024: gross monthly earnings including bonuses, full-time employees subject to social insurance.
All figures checked against the original publications on 21 October 2026. This page will be updated when Destatis publishes the figures for the end of 2026, usually in spring.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How many Indians live in Germany?
A: 311,130 Indian nationals were living in Germany on 31 December 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), up from 277,455 a year earlier and 124,095 at the end of 2018. The count covers Indian citizens only: Indians who became German citizens are not included, so the number of people of Indian origin is higher.
Q: How many Indian students are there in Germany?
A: 58,833 in the winter semester 2024/25, according to DAAD and DZHW. India is the largest country of origin for international students in Germany, ahead of China (38,989), and accounts for 14.6% of all 402,083 international students.
Q: Why do Indians move to Germany?
A: Mostly to study. Of the 49,023 first residence permits Germany issued to Indian citizens in 2025, 23,889 (49%) were for study, 13,111 (27%) for family reasons and 11,069 (23%) for work, according to Eurostat.
Q: How much do Indians earn in Germany?
A: Indian full-time employees earned a median gross wage of €5,393 a month at the end of 2024, the highest of any nationality among full-time employees in Germany, against €4,177 for German full-time employees. The gap comes mainly from occupation: 30.7% of Indian full-time employees aged 25 to 44 work in academic STEM jobs.
Q: How many Indians get the EU Blue Card in Germany?
A: 13,423 in 2025, 23% of all 58,290 Blue Cards Germany granted, according to Eurostat. India has been the top nationality every year from 2023 to 2025, with about three times as many Blue Cards in 2025 as Turkey in second place.
Related guides
Frequently asked
How many Indians live in Germany?
311,130 Indian nationals were living in Germany on 31 December 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), up from 277,455 a year earlier and 124,095 at the end of 2018. The count covers Indian citizens only: Indians who became German citizens are not included, so the number of people of Indian origin is higher.
How many Indian students are there in Germany?
58,833 in the winter semester 2024/25, according to DAAD and DZHW. India is the largest country of origin for international students in Germany, ahead of China (38,989), and accounts for 14.6% of all 402,083 international students.
Why do Indians move to Germany?
Mostly to study. Of the 49,023 first residence permits Germany issued to Indian citizens in 2025, 23,889 (49%) were for study, 13,111 (27%) for family reasons and 11,069 (23%) for work, according to Eurostat.
How much do Indians earn in Germany?
Indian full-time employees earned a median gross wage of €5,393 a month at the end of 2024, the highest of any nationality among full-time employees in Germany, against €4,177 for German full-time employees. The gap comes mainly from occupation: 30.7% of Indian full-time employees aged 25 to 44 work in academic STEM jobs.
How many Indians get the EU Blue Card in Germany?
13,423 in 2025, 23% of all 58,290 Blue Cards Germany granted, according to Eurostat. India has been the top nationality every year from 2023 to 2025, with about three times as many Blue Cards in 2025 as Turkey in second place.
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