PassPeersImmigrant population
Foreign nationals
11.7%
of residents · 938,232 people
Germany: 14.9% · 10th highest of 16
31 Dec 2025 · Source
What this does and doesn't say
Share of residents who do not hold German citizenship. A higher share usually means larger international communities and more services used to foreign residents.
Naturalised Germans are not counted. It says nothing about how welcome you will feel.
Moved to Germany from abroad
17.2%
of residents
Germany: 19.8% · 10th highest of 16
2025 · Source
What this does and doesn't say
Share of residents in private households who were born abroad and moved to Germany themselves (Microcensus, “Eingewanderte”), whatever their passport.
A sample survey (first results); people in shared accommodation are not included.
Hate crime
Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries.
Violent right-wing hate crimes
1.1
per 100,000 residents · 90 recorded
Germany: 1.5 · 12th highest of 16
2025 · calculated · Source
What this does and doesn't say
Violent offences that the police recorded as right-wing politically motivated and as hate crime, per 100,000 residents. Calculated by PassPeers from the Federal Government's case list (Bundestag document 21/5639) and Destatis population on 31 Dec 2025.
Only crimes reported to the police and classed this way. Hate crime from other motives is not included, many incidents are never reported, and small states swing a lot from year to year.
Right-wing politically motivated crimes
47
per 100,000 residents
Germany: 51 · 11th highest of 16
2025 · Source
What this does and doesn't say
All offences the police classed as right-wing politically motivated, per 100,000 residents, as published by the Federal Government. In 2025, 74% of xenophobic crimes recorded in Germany fell into this category (BKA).
Includes propaganda offences, damage and insults, not only offences against people. It is not a measure of how people in a state vote or think.
Recorded crime
Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries.
Recorded crime
6,329
per 100,000 residents · 506,634 recorded
Germany: 6,591 · 11th highest of 16
2025 · Source
What this does and doesn't say
All criminal offences recorded by the police, per 100,000 residents – the BKA's frequency figure (Häufigkeitszahl) from the Police Crime Statistics (PKS).
Crimes are counted where they happen, so city states with many commuters and visitors show higher rates. Includes offences such as fare dodging, drug possession and breaches of residence law. Unreported crime is missing.
Violent crime
250.4
per 100,000 residents · 20,044 recorded
Germany: 254.1 · 7th highest of 16
2025 · Source
What this does and doesn't say
Offences the PKS groups as violent crime (Gewaltkriminalität – for example robbery, serious assault, rape and homicide), per 100,000 residents.
Simple assault is not part of this group. Same counting rules as above.
Out and about? Our sister app Stay Safe uses official police data like this, area by area, in 40 countries.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) publishes hate crime only for Germany as a whole, so the state figures here come from the Federal Government's answer to a parliamentary question, which covers right-wing motivated crime only.
The PKS also publishes district (Kreis) and city tables; this map shows the 16 states.
We don't rank regions as “friendly” or “unfriendly”. No single number can tell you that, and an area's figures don't describe the people you will meet. Use these figures as one input, next to jobs, housing and the people you know there.
Largest cities
People from your country in Lower Saxony
Most common here among the 37 countries we list (by citizenship):
- Ukraine 126,980
- Syria 97,685
- Poland 96,515
- Türkiye 94,475
- Romania 80,010
- Iraq 44,760
- Afghanistan 32,700
- Russia 21,645
Germany counts citizenship, not birthplace: people who became German citizens are not included, and children born in Germany with a foreign passport are. Per 1,000 is calculated by PassPeers from the register count and Destatis population on 30 Nov 2025. See all states on the map →
Closer look: recorded crime by area
Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries. Small areas with few residents can show very high rates from a handful of cases.
Recorded crime by district in Lower Saxony
45 districts · 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2025 · Source
Rates per 100,000 residents (Häufigkeitszahl) as the BKA publishes them. Cities are separate districts, so they stand out against the rural districts around them: crimes are counted where they happen, including those against commuters and visitors.
All 45 districts as a table
| Districts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Osnabrück city | 10,30917,119 | 422.7702 |
| Wilhelmshaven city | 9,8907,491 | 501.7380 |
| Region Hannover district | 9,070103,478 | 410.34,681 |
| Emden city | 8,4434,154 | 396.3195 |
| Braunschweig city | 8,06920,411 | 335.2848 |
| Wolfsburg city | 7,83710,154 | 361.2468 |
| Oldenburg (Oldenburg) city | 7,23212,772 | 329581 |
| Göttingen district | 7,12523,371 | 265.5871 |
| Lüneburg district | 7,06812,683 | 257.5462 |
| Goslar district | 6,8668,704 | 244.5310 |
| Salzgitter city | 6,6106,938 | 338.2355 |
| Uelzen district | 6,5536,005 | 313.2287 |
| Helmstedt district | 6,5035,867 | 268.2242 |
| Heidekreis district | 6,4929,174 | 245.5347 |
| Celle district | 6,26710,808 | 255.7441 |
| Delmenhorst city | 6,2475,085 | 272.7222 |
| Hildesheim district | 6,09916,316 | 239.2640 |
| Nienburg (Weser) district | 5,9747,257 | 223.1271 |
| Grafschaft Bentheim district | 5,6778,206 | 178.5258 |
| Lüchow-Dannenberg district | 5,5292,571 | 236.5110 |
| Leer district | 5,5109,318 | 210.5356 |
| Schaumburg district | 5,2858,289 | 207.9326 |
| Peine district | 5,2797,235 | 189.7260 |
| Wesermarsch district | 5,2324,653 | 230.5205 |
| Holzminden district | 5,2303,430 | 201.3132 |
| Rotenburg (Wümme) district | 5,2118,645 | 225.4374 |
| Hameln-Pyrmont district | 5,1117,677 | 217326 |
| Northeim district | 5,0816,383 | 189.5238 |
| Verden district | 5,0607,015 | 191.2265 |
| Emsland district | 4,97916,658 | 191639 |
| Stade district | 4,87910,134 | 235.9490 |
| Cuxhaven district | 4,8189,580 | 184.6367 |
| Diepholz district | 4,75710,522 | 180.4399 |
| Aurich district | 4,6798,835 | 181.7343 |
| Harburg district | 4,65712,382 | 167444 |
| Friesland district | 4,5244,543 | 164.3165 |
| Gifhorn district | 4,4467,823 | 154271 |
| Oldenburg district | 4,3515,743 | 122161 |
| Vechta district | 4,2766,266 | 184.3270 |
| Osnabrück district | 4,24815,072 | 144.9514 |
| Wolfenbüttel district | 4,1134,865 | 129.3153 |
| Osterholz district | 4,0494,600 | 161.1183 |
| Wittmund district | 3,8902,177 | 139.478 |
| Cloppenburg district | 3,5926,358 | 136.7242 |
| Ammerland district | 3,3004,216 | 97.8125 |
Small figures under each rate: the number of recorded cases.
District outlines © GeoBasis-DE / BKG, Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0 (via opendatasoft georef-germany-kreis), simplified.
Compare Lower Saxony with another state
| Figure | Lower Saxony | Germany | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigrant population | |||
| Foreign nationals% of residents · 31 Dec 2025 | 11.7% | 14.9% | |
| Moved to Germany from abroad% of residents · 2025 | 17.2% | 19.8% | |
| Hate crime | |||
| Violent right-wing hate crimesper 100,000 residents · 2025 | 1.1 | 1.5 | |
| Right-wing politically motivated crimesper 100,000 residents · 2025 | 47 | 51 | |
| Recorded crime | |||
| Recorded crimeper 100,000 residents · 2025 | 6,329 | 6,591 | |
| Violent crimeper 100,000 residents · 2025 | 250.4 | 254.1 | |
Differences between two regions are not a verdict on either. Read each figure's notes above.
Other states
Official help for newcomers
Routes into Germany
Sources
- Destatis – Population by nationality and federal state, 31 Dec 2025 (Bevölkerungsfortschreibung, Zensus 2022 basis)
- Destatis – Population in private households by immigration history and state, Microcensus 2025 first results
- Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 21/5639 – Federal Government answer on right-wing politically motivated crime in the states 2025 (24 Apr 2026), with case annex
- BKA – Politisch motivierte Kriminalität 2025, bundesweite Fallzahlen (fact sheet)
- BKA – Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025, Länder case table T01 with frequency figures (V1.0, 6 Mar 2026)
Map outlines: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Checked 20 October 2026. Figures marked “calculated” are one official count divided by an official population; nothing here is estimated or scored by PassPeers.