German population slightly lower as virus hits immigration

BERLIN (AP) — Official data show that Germany’s population has contracted slightly for the first time in nearly a decade because immigration shrank as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday that some 83.1 million people lived in Germany at the end of June. The population declining by 40,000, or 0.05%, in the year’s first half. The last decline was in the second half of 2010. The statistics office pointed to a sharp decline in net immigration starting in March, when the pandemic hit Europe, and lasting through May.