Youngest population lives in southwest Germany ages differently

Population in Germany ages very differently
The population in Germany is getting older. Within 15 years, the average age has risen by more than three years. The regional differences are sometimes very large. The youngest population lives in two university towns in the southwest of the republic.

Life expectancy is increasing
Humans are getting older. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a global increase in life expectancy last year. The Germans had even reached a new record level before. An evaluation by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) shows that although the population in this country is getting older, the regional differences are very large.

The average age of Germans has increased significantly in recent decades. However, there are regional differences. Two university towns in the southwest of the republic have the youngest population. (Image: Boggy / fotolia.com)

Freiburg and Heidelberg have the youngest population
According to a statement from the institute, the average age of Germans has risen by 3.3 years from the turn of the millennium to 2015 - from 40.6 to 43.9 years.

The youngest population are therefore Freiburg im Breisgau and Heidelberg.

While the average age in the two university towns in the southwest of the republic is 39.8 and 39.9 years respectively, it is about ten years higher in some East German districts and independent cities, for example in Suhl (49.1), Altenburger Land (49 , 4) and in Dessau (49.5).

There, the proportion of over 64-year-olds is also just under 30 percent. By contrast, Freiburg and Heidelberg are only around 16 percent older than 64 years old.

Structurally weak areas age faster
As explained in the communication, many structurally weak areas age faster as they have lost to young people. The gap between growing large and university cities and the areas beyond the metropolitan areas has thus deepened in recent years.

The aging of the population in structurally weak areas away from the metropolitan areas is particularly noticeable.

Between 2000 and 2015 alone districts such as Suhl (minus 22 percent), Oberspreewald-Lusatia (minus 21.7 percent) and Spree-Neiße (minus 19.9 percent) lost one in five inhabitants.

Low average age in the surroundings of economically strong metropolises
But not all rural areas are overgrown. In general, the average age in parts of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg and in northwest Germany is particularly low.

According to the BBSR evaluation, some districts in the west - such as Vechta (40.0) or Cloppenburg (40.1) - have a comparatively young population. One reason for this is high birth rates.

In addition to university towns such as Tübingen, Erlangen, Regensburg or Eichstätt, some surrounding districts of the economically strong metropolises have a low average age, for example Freising (40.6) and Erding (41.4) near Munich.

Many families move here from the core cities into the closer surrounding.

At some point a limit is reached
However, people are not only living longer and longer in Germany. The world population is getting older and older. An evaluation of several studies has recently concluded that average life expectancy in Western countries could soon exceed 90 years.

At some point, however, a limit will be reached. According to US scientists, the maximum life expectancy is limited to 115 years.

Other researchers say it can be increased tenfold. However, a large part of the experts doubt that people can live that long. (Ad)