WEB DESK
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Germany could increase its population strongly in the years ahead as the government seeks to boost immigration to help avert labour shortages and a crisis in its pension system. Mr Scholz told a citizen forum in Potsdam, near Berlin yesterday that the government is working on attracting foreign workers to “keep the show on the road”. The government has said that it wants to boost immigration and training to tackle a skills shortage weighing on the German economy at a time of weakening growth, with an aging population piling pressure on the public pension system. Scholz said that current population growth due in part to rising immigration meant the government might not raise pension contributions before the end of its mandate in 2025.
Germany’s statistics office said last week that the population would likely rise by one million to 84 million this year due to migration from Ukraine.