The birth rate in Germany has been rising over the last four years, pushing the level to 1.5 infants per woman last year.
The last time the rate was this high was in 1982.
Last year saw the arrival of 738,000 newborns, a report by the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) showed on Monday.
Below the headline statistics, data showed that the rate among German citizens increased only slightly to 1.4 children per woman. The real swell in numbers was from women of other nationalities where the increase went from 1.86 to 1.95.
Immigration has played an important role in raising up the birth rate.
Between 1983 and 2012, the rate plummeted to one of the lowest in the world. Authorities were worried about the burden the state would have to shoulder for a disproportionately old population.
A separate report last year revealed the Germany was second only to Japan in having the world’s oldest population.
The nation’s population is nevertheless likely to decline by some 10 million people by 2060, Destatis projects. Despite the increase, a rate of 1.5 per woman is well below the 2.1 rate needed to replenish the population.
The rate in the former East Germany was higher (1.56 children) than that in the western regions (1.50).
