Germany news: Naturalizations reach record high in 2025

Authorities in the northern port city of Wilhelmshaven announced one of the biggest seizures of cocaine in Germany in recent years on Wednesday.

Customs officials said they had seized over eight tons of cocaine, worth about €500 million ($581 million), in a shipping container in February but could not make the seizure public earlier due to ongoing investigations. 

As part of an international investigation tied to the discovery, Spanish authorities arrested two suspects in May. One of the suspects, the managing director of an import company, has also been linked to an earlier shipment of cocaine that arrived in Spain.

Shipping documents claimed the container from West Africa held cocoa beans destined for Spain. An X-ray of the container, however, turned up several irregularities that German customs officers said required closer investigation.

Those investigations turned up over 400 packages wrapped in black plastic, each containing 20 blocks of hard-pressed cocaine as well as GPS trackers. 

"Before the container was transported on to Barcelona, the illegal cargo was destroyed in Germany under extensive security measures," Senior Public Prosecutor Jan Wilken of the Aurich Public Prosecutor's Office, which is handling the case, said in a statement. "This prevents the criminals from forcibly retrieving the seized cocaine at a later date."

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called the seizure a "major blow to the international drug trade."

German soccer fans do not appear willing to sacrifice their beauty sleep to watch the men's national team compete in the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

A YouGov survey commissioned by delivery service Wolt found 25% are very unlikely and 16% are unlikely to watch matches played during the German night.

Another 37%, however, are interested in watching matches played at unfamiliar hours.

Due to the six to nine-hour time difference between North America and Germany, many matches start at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) or later in Germany.

During the initial stages of the June 11 - July 19 tournament, a number of games will kick off at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. German time.

Watching the national team's group stage games, however, will be a bit easier for fans in Germany. The team plays Curacao at 7 p.m. on June 14, Ivory Coast at 10 p.m. on June 20, and Ecuador at 10 p.m. on June 25.

A dark horse pick to reach the tournament's final match, the game would start at 9 p.m. German time.

The survey revealed that 63% most enjoy watching matches on TV with family and friends, while 44% prefer to watch on their own to concentrate on the game.

The poll was conducted April 8-10 among 2,096 Germans who are interested in football, ranging from occasional match watchers to diehard fans.

For the second time this year, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has lowered its predicted growth for Germany, according to an outlook released on Wednesday.

Germany's gross domestic product is forecast to grow by 0.7% in 2026 — down from the predicted 0.8% in March and 1.0% projected in December.

As war in Iran and inflation continue to weigh on Germany and the world, the OECD also lowered its 2027 growth forecast for Europe's largest economy from 1.5% to 1.1%.

"Uncertainty has increased again," OECD expert Isabell Koske told Reuters news agency, adding that rising energy prices due to the war in Iran are negatively impacting Germany's private consumption and investment.

However, an increase in public investment and defense spending is stimulating the German economy, the OECD report found.

Overall, the OECD cut its global GDP growth projection from 3.4% to 2.8%.

OECD projections for GDP growth for 2026 in other countries

• India: 6.3%
• China: 4.5%
• United States: 2.0%
• Canada: 1.2%
• The Netherlands: 1.0%

Germany is in the running for a seat on the Security Council when the UN General Assembly elects new members to the most powerful body within the United Nations on Wednesday.

According to the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council bears "the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security." Germany's foreign minister says there are good reasons why the country should be on the body.  

"I would say the chances are good, but it's a competition, and it's democracy," Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told DW during a visit to UN headquarters in New York in April. "So we can win. We can lose. Both is possible. We have good arguments. We engage in this world. We are engaged in the UN system. [Germany] is the second largest donor. And we have some experience because we have for six times been already as a non-permanent member in the Security Council."

Keep reading here to find out all about Germany's bid for a spot on the UN Security Council. 

Despite the conflicts in the Middle East and simmering trade disputes with the United States, Germany's auto industry is slightly less pessimistic than it had been in April, according to data released Wednesday by the Ifo Institute. 

The Munich-based institute's mood indicator rose to -20.8 points from -23.5 points in April, showing that the companies regard their current business situation as slightly better.

"In view of the continuing high level of uncertainty, sentiment in the automotive industry nevertheless remains very subdued," Ifo industry expert Anita Wölfl said in a statement.

The institute added that a renewed US threat of tariffs at the start of May likely contributed to a considerable drop in export expectations from -11.7 points in April to -16.4 points in May. A late-May agreement between the European Union and the United States, however, is likely to improve that figure next month, Ifo wrote.

"However, the US tariffs of 15% on cars and their parts that continue to apply still pose a significant challenge for the German automotive industry," Wölfl added.

About 332,500 residents of Germany acquired citizenship in 2025, according to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistics Office. 

The number represents an increase of 14%, or about 40,500 people, compared with 2024 and marks the fifth straight year that naturalizations have increased in Germany. 

A 2024 change to Germany's citizenship laws made it possible for people to be naturalized while retaining their original citizenship, which has led to an increase in applications for naturalization. Data released on Tuesday showed most new German citizens also kept their original nationality. 

What does the German naturalization data show about nationalities?

• Syrians were most frequently granted German citizenship in 2025, as has been the case since 2021. Last year, 65,600 Syrian nationals were naturalized. One in five people naturalized in 2025 had previously held Syrian citizenship.
• Compared to 2024, the number of Syrians naturalized in Germany fell by 21%.
• People of Turkish origin received the second-highest number of naturalizations (10% or 34,100) last year.
• Russian nationals were the third largest group to receive German citizenship (6%, 19,700).
• Turks and Russians each saw a 51% increase in naturalizations compared to 2024.
• There was a big jump in year-on-year growth in naturalizations for Bosnian (125% increase to 8,800), US (100% increase to 6,600) and Albanian (97% increase to 6,100) nationals.

What else does the data show about applications for German citizenship?

• 91% of naturalizations were for people who have lived in Germany for at least five years and their partners and children.
• 1,500 people who had lived in Germany for less than five years received German citizenship due to exceptional integration achievements, accounting for less than 1% of naturalizations in 2025.
• The average residency time in Germany before naturalization was 12.4 years, up from 11.8 years in 2024.
• 90% of naturalization applications processed in 2025 resulted in a person receiving German citizenship.
• 5% of applicants rescinded their request for German citizenship, 3% of applications were denied, and 3% resulted in no citizenship due to other reasons, such as death or moving outside the country.

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Good morning and welcome to DW's coverage of the news coming out of Germany on Wednesday.

Today, we'll be looking at a rise in naturalizations in Germany as well as a moderate outlook improvement in the country's auto industry.

Later today, focus will shift to New York City, where Berlin is angling to gain a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.