New data from Destatis reveals insights into the languages spoken in Germany’s households. Around 17% of households are bilingual, with a language other than German being the primary tongue in many cases. Meanwhile, 6% of households speak no German at home—a figure that rises to 24% among those with a migration background.
Among the 15.6 million people who communicate primarily in a language other than German at home, Turkish is the most common (14%), followed by Russian (12%) and Arabic (9%). However, the majority of people with a migration background still use German in daily life. While 22% speak only German at home, 54% combine it with another language, and 21% primarily speak German despite being multilingual.
Overall, three-quarters of immigrants rate their spoken German skills as good or very good, a number that has improved over the years.