Demographics of Kenyans Living in Germany 2018

How many Kenyans live in Germany? What do they do here? How many plan on staying? How long do they stay? If you have been asking yourself any of these questions, here are the answers.

It’s great to see how the Kenyan demographic in Germany has changed over the years. You can look at some of the numbers from 2011 and 2013.

Contents

BASIC Numbers:

Men – 3440
Women – 8070
Total – 11515

Is this the real number of Kenyans in Germany? I don’t think so. First because the number of Kenyans on visas sums up to 11,455 and the number of Kenyans who have taken up German citizenship from 2000 adds up to 3980, adding these two numbers gives you a population of 15,435.

LOCATION OF STAY

Where do the majority of Kenyans in Germany live? NRW remains king on that one with 2140 (1490 women and 650 men) Kenyan residents, followed closely by Baden-Würrtemberg with 1835 (450 men and 1385 women).

This time, I also wanted to have a comparison between the years to see how those numbers have changed, so here it is:

	End of 1998	End of 2000	End of 2010	End of 2017
Baden-Württemberg	575	731	1632	1835
Bayern	482	599	1444	1790
Berlin	323	400	796	1150
Brandenburg	303	204	534	1120
Bremen	50	63	93	120
Hamburg	157	190	294	360
Hessen	558	597	1026	1125
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	9	15	23	30
Niedersachsen	249	299	500	625
Nordrhein-Westfalen	933	1151	1909	2140
Rheinland-Pfalz	155	198	432	450
Saarland	56	71	104	100
Sachsen	35	51	112	165
Sachsen-Anhalt	26	42	50	85
Schleswig-Holstein	98	109	252	320
Thüringen	7	7	45	90

AGE

The average age of Africans living in Germany has been in its 30s since 2005 with the men being a bit older. However, the age seems to have reached its peak in 2012 at 39,6 and is now reducing with the last census putting it at 37,6. The lowest was in 1998 at 32,2 years.

The average age of Kenyans living in Germany is the early 30s, this number had increased steadily since 1998. However, between 2004 and 2006 there was a small deep in the increase meaning an influx of younger Kenyans either coming in from Kenya or being born in Germany.The current age is 31,5years.

Unlike in the greater African population where the men tend to be older, among Kenyans it is vice versa. The average age of a Kenyan man in Germany is 29,8 while for women it is 33,1, quite an increase from 28,1 and 28,7 respectively in 1998.

Comparatively, the data from 2000 until 2017 shows us there are actually many Kenyans coming into Germany in their later years. Meaning some of the 60+ year olds in Germany have come quite recently. For example, the oldest Kenyan woman first appeared in the census in 1999 aged 81 and remained the oldest until 2007. The oldest man first appeared in the census in 1998 aged 68 and remained the oldest man until 2010 when he hit 80. What might have happened to these people is unclear, did they die or did they return to Kenya?

The oldest Kenyans in 2016 were 80 year olds; in 2015 it was an 85 year old.

GENERATIONS

As expected, majority of Kenyans living in Germany are first generation Kenyans with the oldest being 78 years old.

An important demographic we some times forget is the second generation Kenyans living in Germany. The numbers available are those of Kenyans born in Germany and hold Kenyan citizenship, they could be dual citizens but at least have Kenyan citizenship. Children born to Kenyans that only hold German citizenship are NOT included in these numbers.

720 children (360 boys and 360 girls) in Germany qualify as second generation Kenyans with the oldest being 22 years old girls.

MARITAL STATUS

Majority of Kenyans living in Germany are single:

Never been married (in Germany) – 5,385 (2020 – Men and 3365 – Women)
Widowed – 225 (20 – Men and 205 – Women)
Divorced – 1,200 (250-Men and 950 – Women)
Divorced from a same sex relationship – 5 (all men)
Unknown status – 720 (230- Men and 490 Women)

3,950 are married, of which 900 are men and 3050 are women.

The number of Kenyans married in Germany has slightly more than doubled for the men from only 446 in 1998 to 900 in 2017, while for women that number almost tripled from 1329 to 3050 in the same time period.

SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS

A topic our community rarely wants to talk about, especially the men. But guess who was the pioneer in that area….

The first Kenyan same sex relationship to be registered was in 2011 with 9 Kenyan men with the first divorce being registered in 2012. The first Kenyan woman to register such a partnership was in 2012. And unlike popular mythology within our community that claims Kenyan women in Germany are involved in more same sex relationships and the men openly displaying their homophobia, seems what they condemn in public, they do in private. Statistics show for ever Kenyan lesbian you meet in Germany, there are at least 3 gay Kenyan men.

DURATION OF STAY

Where do you find Kenyans who have lived in Germany the longest?

On average: Saarland where the highest average duration of stay is at 11,2 years and the lowest being Thüringen at 4,3 years
Men: Hamburg with the highest average of 11,4 years and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with the lowest at 2 years
Women: Saarland with the highest average of 11,4 years and Thüringen with the lowest at 4,2 years

Our average duration of stay in Germany is currently at 8,4 years (8,1 years for men and 8,6 for women)

So how long have most Kenyans lived in Germany?

less than 10 years – 7160 (2205- men and 4955 – women)
10 -15 years – 2125 (535 – men and 1590 – women)
15 – 20 years – 1190 (380 – men and 810 – women)
20 – 30 years – 850 (255 – men and 595 – women)
30 – 40 years – 165 (55 – men and 110 – women )
more than 40 years – 30 (15 – men and 15 – women)

LEAVING GERMANY

When do the majority of Kenyans leave Germany?

On average – after 1-4 years. These could probably be students and people on exchange programs. The second highest time period Kenyans leave is after 10-15 years.
For the men, majority leave after the 1-4 years while the women wait till the 10-15 years.

In 2017, 370 (190 – men and 180 – women) Kenyans left Germany, a slight drop from 390 (205 men and 185 women) exits in 2016. Compared to 2007, where 506 Kenyans left, seems more Kenyans are choosing to stay in Germany.

DEATHS

The number of deaths in 2017 was quite low at only 10 people compared to 20 in 2016. Surprisingly, Kenyan men in Germany tend to die within the first 4 years of living in Germany. For the women, deaths tend to happen after at least 15 years of living in Germany.

VISAS

Wondering which visas most of us hold:

Permanent residence permits – 6,180
- Permanent residence permit – 3390 (2720 – Women and 670 Men)
- Permanent Residence Permit issued to a foreigner married to a German spouse – 2585 (2120-Women and 465-Men)
- Permanent residence permit issued in another EU country (Daueraufenthaltskarte) – 205
- Approved Asylum – 710
Family related visas – 3,875
- Parent to an underage German citizen – 1200 (1055 – Women and 145 – Men)
- Joining a German spouse – 910
- Joining a foreign spouse – 90
- Family reunion visas for other family members- 45
- Children born in Germany – 280
- Children joining family in Germany – 1210
- Visa issued after divorce – 140
Studying – 750
- Au Pair – 10
- Ausbildung – 180
- Language Course – 20
- University students – 490
- Research – 10
- Short term (language visa, exchange programs etc) – 40
Work Related – 545
- EU Blue Card – 55
- Job Search Visa after Graduating – 20
- Work Permits for professional jobs – 345
- Work Permit for students who studied in German Universities – 15
- Work Permit for unskilled jobs – 110
Others – 1,970
- Duldung – 1160
- Don’t need visas – 5
- Visa issued in an exceptional case not stipulated in the AufenthG – 50
- Fiktionsbescheinigung (have applied for a different visa from the one they held previously but it has not been issued yet) – 640
- Unconfirmed – 115

BECOMING GERMAN

The number of Kenyans applying for German citizenship has continued to grow despite the Kenyan government trying to discourage it by making the renunciation process very tedious and very expensive. From only 102 applicants in 2000, the number doubled to 211 in 2008 and more than tripled by 2017 at 341. It is estimated that 3980 Kenyans renounced their Kenyan citizenship between 2000 and 2017.

Majority of the Kenyans who gained German citizenship did so based on the time of stay in Germany i.e. they have lived in Germany over 8 years, in 2017 that was 234 people (193 Women and 41 Men). So how do we get German citizenship:

Living in Germany for over 8 years – 234
Married to a German spouse – 48
Spouse or child to a foreigner who gained German citizenship – 25
As a well integrated refugee – 19
Proved they are upright citizens -15

Although Germany always demands for renunciation before issuing their citizenship, some Kenyans have continued to keep both citizenships LEGALLY either because they:

were below 18 at the time of taking up German citizenship and Kenya does not allow children to renounce their citizenship
fall under the new law that allows children born and bred in Germany with dual citizenship to retain them for life
applied for Beibehaltung
escaped the renunciation step because their local migration office did not know they needed it
had their passport sent to the Embassy in Berlin and if they knew someone there at the time, they got the passport sent back to them without any renunciation

The number of Kenyans holding both citizenships legally from 2000 stands at 235 of which 163 are women and 72 are men. In 2016 you had 17 retaining Kenyan citizenship as they took up German citizenship, in 2017 that number was at 37.

However, some Kenyan children have been forced to renounce their Kenyan citizenship depending on which migration officer works on their case. In 2017, 9 children got to keep both citizenships while 16 had to renounce their Kenyan one.

UPDATE:
Now that some people don’t know where/who publishes census data, I’m forced to mention it explicitly. All the data shared herein comes from the Federal Statistics Office (Statistisches Bundesamt). You can cross check all the data shared here.

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