The total number of people living in Germany in 2004 was 82.424 million. According to data
obtained from World Bank Indicators, national growth rate in Germany during 1997-2003 was 0.1%, showing very little population growth.
Germany is moderately populated with 231 persons living per sq km in 2004. The population consists of people hailing from mixed ethnic backgrounds. The Turkish forms the largest group, while foreign residents make up for nine percent of the population. Besides this, there are also large numbers of refugees from East European Union as well as immigrants from countries like Italy, Spain and Greece.
Most of the population live in cities, this is obvious from a high urban population of 88 %. Even the life span of people is higher as in most other developed countries (life expectancy at birth in Germany is 78 years, fourth highest among all countries of the world), according to the World Bank figures (1997-2003).
The UNDP 2004 report shows that 8.3 % of Germany's population lives below income poverty line (50% of median household income). Gross primary enrollment, which denotes the percent of school-age population, is 103, with 104 for male and 103 for female population. Adult Literacy rate is the same as other high-income countries, 99 %. Germany is ranked 19th in 177 countries of the world in terms of human development index. Germany's labour force growth rate of 0.1% in last six years is far short of the other high-income countries' growth rate of rate of 0.7% during these years.
Key Economic Indicators
The GNI per capita of Germany Economy was $ 25250 in 2003. In terms of purchasing power parity, Per capita GNI in 2003 was US $ 27460, placing it at a lower rank among the other OECD countries.
The average annual growth rate of GDP in German Economy has been on a decline since early 1980s and no growth was observed in total output during 2003.
With the effects of adverse external shocks diminishing, the German economy is currently recovering, ending a couple of years in stagnation on the back of its traditionally strong, competitive and innovative export-oriented manufacturing sector.
However, there lies a vast potential and the economy is far from operating at full strength
due to the weakness of final domestic demand. Poor labour market performance continues to weigh on consumer sentiment and business confidence remains volatile. Although monetary conditions should remain supportive for GDP growth in the euro area, a persisting German inflation differential relative to the euro area average would mean that real short-term interest rates risk damping the recovery of demand in Germany to an extent, which may not be compensated by the corresponding gain in competitiveness.
Cyclical weakness and the structural problems of the Germany economy impact strongly on public budgets, while uncertainty about how public finances will be put on a durably sustainable path is a further factor undermining confidence. Re establishing Germany's traditional economic strength requires a comprehensive policy response within a coherent framework.
