The topic has become increasingly controversial in recent months as the German government shapes its new migration policy.
The latest numbers were released a day after the leaders of the three parties in the country’s ruling coalition met in Berlin to wrangle with the issue.
“We must finally deport on a grand scale those who have no right to stay in Germany,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Der Spiegel magazine before the meeting.
According to Scholz, “a whole bundle of measures” are needed to limit irregular migration, including better protection of the European Union’s external borders and tighter controls on Germany’s borders with neighbouring EU countries.
However, Germany must continue welcoming refugees who are entitled to asylum because of political persecution or other legitimate reasons, Scholz said, and also must attract more immigrants with in-demand skills.
