More than half of the inmates in several German federal states are not German citizens. Remix News points out that this figure does not include persons born abroad with German citizenship, which means that the real number of immigrants is probably far higher.
Foreign citizens now constitute almost 45 per cent of Germany’s prison population, and the proportion approaches 60 per cent in Berlin and Hamburg, according to figures obtained from all the 16 state justice ministries.
An analysis carried out by Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung showed that 27,000 of the 60,408 persons who in March 2026 sat in German prisons or were in custody did not have German citizenship. This gives a nationwide proportion of foreign inmates of a record high 44.8 per cent, up from around 30 per cent in 2015.
The figures count persons with dual citizenship and foreign-born with German citizenship as Germans, which means that the real number of foreign-born inmates is probably far higher.
The highest proportions were registered in the city states. Foreign citizens constituted 59 per cent of the inmates in Berlin and 58 per cent of the inmates in Hamburg. Also more than half of the inmates in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse were non-German citizens.
The proportions were considerably lower in East Germany, where approximately one in four inmates in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia did not have German citizenship.
The German newspaper reported that foreign inmates most often came from Eastern Europe and Arab countries. Their share of the prison population is disproportionately higher than the share of foreign citizens in Germany’s total population, which lies at a little under 17 per cent.
The German prison officers’ association warned that the changed prison population places increasing pressure on an already overloaded prison system.
“Language barriers are a major problem”, the association’s leader René Müller said to the newspaper, and explained that interpreters are not always available and that translation technology cannot replace the direct communication that is needed to handle inmates’ problems and prepare them for release.
“Our officers experience it as increasingly difficult to rehabilitate inmates and struggle to get in contact with them”, Müller said.
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He warned that communication failure can increase aggression, encourage inmates to withdraw into isolated subcultures and increase the risk that Muslim inmates are radicalised behind the walls.
The Justice Ministry in Bavaria pointed in a similar way to language problems and “culturally conditioned behaviour” that can lead to serious conflicts between inmates and staff.
Remix News reported on this already in 2024, when it was estimated that German prisons cost the taxpayers approximately 4.14 billion euro annually, of which around 1.82 billion euro went to imprisoning foreign citizens. At that time foreign inmates already constituted more than half of the inmate population in several federal states.
Martin Hess, politician from Alternative for Germany (AfD), said that these figures showed the consequences of the country’s immigration policy.
“Approximately 15 per cent of those who live in Germany are foreigners. Their share of suspects, convicted and inmates is however disproportionately high”, Hess said at the time.
The former police officer called for stricter expulsions and a complete reorientation of Germany’s immigration policy, and argued that foreign crime constitutes both a security risk and a major economic burden for the taxpayers.