Germans are growing more fearful, both as a country and as individuals, and a huge factor is immigration. Those are the results from the Allensbach Institute, a private polling service that compiles an annual report on how safe Germans feel for the private Centre for Strategy and Higher Leadership in Germany, which has just released its Security Report 2025.
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| Image Credit: fhm / Getty |
The latest survey shows that the number of Germans who feel safe in their own country has dropped by one point since last year’s, to 60 percent, a new record low. By contrast, the figures in the surveys taken between 2019 and 2022 all fell between 71 percent and 82 percent.
In the survey, the graph addresses respondents with the question: “Do too many foreigners or refugees live in Germany today?”
According to the results, 81 percent of the German population say that too many refugees live in Germany, including 80 percent of the West Germans and an astounding 95 percent of the East Germans.
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| 81% of Germans Say There Are Too Many Aliens & They Don’t Feel Safe Around Them |
However, the question also addresses whether Germans believe there are also too many foreigners. The results clearly show that Germans are not simply fed up with illegal migrants, but have also had enough of the massive number of foreigners coming to the country overall. A strong majority, 58 percent, say there are too many foreigners in Germany, with 55 percent of West Germans saying this and 74 percent of East Germans.
One of the most dramatic findings was that 30 percent of those surveyed indicated that they are afraid of being victimized at random by violent criminals. This is up from 14 percent in the 2022 survey.
Surprisingly, the survey had already been completed before the attack on a group of kindergartners in Aschaffenburg, Germany, by an illegal Afghan migrant on Jan. 22. The migrant killed two people, including a 2-year-old boy, and injured three others. The attack has led to an increased concern about migrant crime among Germans, fueling support for the immigration-critical Alternative for Germany party.
JUST IN: 🇩🇪 Germans have never felt less safe, new data shows.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 5, 2025
"This feeling that if I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could cost me my life. This is increasing rapidly in Germany."
"81% of respondents are convinced that Germany has taken in too many refugees." pic.twitter.com/lcbz7LYRJK
Safety concerns among Germans are not limited to crime, however. The poll also revealed that 61 percent of those surveyed are concerned that Germany could become involved in a war, while 79 percent said that they believe Russia is currently the greatest threat to peace.
While this result is not unexpected given the ongoing war in Ukraine, what is perhaps more surprising is that Germans’ view of their closest ally, the United States, has shifted massively. Now, 46 percent of those surveyed said that the U.S. is presently a threat to world peace, which is an increase from 24 percent only a year ago.
🇩🇪🚨Germany's welfare costs are EXPLODING and foreigners are fueling the rise
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) July 9, 2024
🚨 Welfare costs, known as "citizen's money," have reached a record high of €48.9 billion.
💰 47.3% of welfare recipients are foreigners, a new record high, according to data from the German… pic.twitter.com/mK6Vu2pV8g
A scant 10 percent of Germans surveyed said that they feel that their country is prepared for war and other disasters. In addition, 43 percent said that Germany is “not very well” prepared, while 39 percent said that it is “not at all” prepared. Among the dangers cited were concerns about the status of emergency health care plans as well as how secure vital institutions are against cyber attacks.
It will be interesting to see how these fears play out in the German national election, which is now less than three weeks away.
The Allensbach Institute polled 1,015 Germans ages 16 and above across the nation between January 7 and 18.
Currently, the Left Party of Germany is calling for 1 million migrants to enter the country every year, with party leader Jan van Aken saying 1 million is a “completely manageable number.”