DHAKA: Germany’s population rose to 81.1 million people in 2014, the fourth annual increase in a row, boosted by the highest level of net migration in more than two decades.

German Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.

Germany, the European Union’s most populous country and also its largest economy, had a population of 80.8 million at the end of 2013.

As in much of Europe, Germany’s population is ageing fast, with as many as 215,000 more deaths than births last year, but that was more than offset by an influx of about 470,000 migrants.

The number of migrants was the highest since 1992 when immigration peaked following the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and war in the former Yugoslavia.

BDST: 1840 HRS, JAN 21, 2015