Europe accounts for the biggest proportion of Germany's immigrant population. More than two thirds of Germany's immigrant population are nationals of another European country, and 36.6 percent are from within the EU. Overall, the major country of origin is Turkey, which accounts for 13 percent of the foreign nationals living in Germany. This is followed by Poland, which accounts for almost 11 percent. Around nine percent of the foreign nationals living in Germany are from Russia. Germany is also home to significant numbers of immigrants from Kazakhstan (7 percent), Romania (4 percent) and Italy (4 percent).

Many families from Italy, Turkey and the other EU member states in southern Europe first came to Germany during the recruitment of guest workers from 1955 to 1973 and have long since become an important part of the German population. Important lessons were learnt at the time about how to meet the challenges posed by immigration.

The group of expatriates – expats in short - has gained increasing importance in the last few years. Such international experts live and work for their companies in Germany for a limited period of time.