Migration background

In the Germanosphere, migration background (German: Migrationshintergrund) is a term used to describe people on the basis of identity and ancestry.^[1] Migration background is a variably defined socio-demographic characteristic that describes persons who themselves or whose ancestors immigrated from one country to another or whose ancestors did not have the nationality of the destination country.^[2]

The term was first used in 1998 by sociologist Ursula Boos-Nünning [de] in the 10th Children and Youth Report [de]. It is used as a concept primarily in German-speaking countries. The definitions are usually linked to nationality or place of birth. In Germany (or according to the Federal Statistical Office), people who were not born with German citizenship themselves or whose father or mother were not born with German citizenship are considered to have a migration background.^[3] In Austria, it refers to people whose parents were both born abroad; depending on their place of birth, a distinction is also made between first and second generation migrants. In Switzerland the Federal Statistical Office defines the term relatively independently of nationality.^[4]

In 2007, the German Federal Statistical Office started publishing data regarding "the population with a migration background".^[5] In 2019, according to the official definition, 21.2 million people with a migration background lived in Germany, which corresponds to a population share of around 26%.^[6][7]