Abstract

Improved East-West German relations meant that the number of people leaving the German Democratic Republic for the Federal Republic rose in the 1970s. The SED regime, which was subject to growing domestic pressure in the 1980s, increasingly used emigration as a safety valve to rid itself of unwanted critics.

East-West German Immigration Statistics (1962–1990)

Source

Year

Immigration to West Germany:
West German data

Immigration to West Germany:
East German data

Immigration to East Germany:
East German data

1949

129,245

--

--

1950

197,887

--

--

1951

165,648

135,767

27,372

1952

182,393

135,988

24,012

1953

331,390

270,440

32,201

1954

184,198

173,279

77,239

1955

252,870

270,115

72,928

1956

279,189

316,028

73,768

1957

261,622

304,957

77,927

1958

204,092

194,714

54,600

1959

143,917

120,226

63,083

1960

199,188

181,473

42,479

1961

207,026

--

33,703

1962

21,365

--

13,080

1963

42,622

--

11,647

1964

41,866

--

9,895

1965

29,552

--

8,833

1966

24,131

--

--

1967

19,573

--

--

1968

16,036

--

--

1969

16,975

--

--

1970

17,519

--

--

1971

17,408

--

--

1972

17,164

--

--

1973

15,189

11,761

--

1974

13,252

11,760

--

1975

16,285

16,586

--

1976

15,168

13,489

--

1977

12,078

9,795

--

1978

12,117

10,669

--

1979

12,515

11,513

--

1980

12,763

10,438

--

1981

15,433

13,166

--

1982

13,208

11,118

--

1983

11,343

9,154

--

1984

40,974

--

--

1985

24,912

--

--

1986

26,178

--

--

1987

18,958

--

--

1988

39,832

--

--

1989

343,854

203,116

--

30. 6. 1990

--

238,384

--

Source: Matthias Judt, ed., DDR-Geschichte in Dokumenten. Berlin, 1997, pp. 545–46.