73 of the members of parliament in the newly elected Bundestag have a migrant background, which corresponds to a share of 11.6 percent. This is according to research by the Media Service for Integration. At the last election in 2021, the share was 11.3 percent. People with a migration background are thus still underrepresented in parliament: the proportion in the population is 29.7 percent, and among those eligible to vote, 14.4 percent. The media service therefore speaks of a “diversity gap in parliament!” The research followed the definition of the Federal Statistical Office: “A person has a migration background if they themselves or at least one parent was not born with German citizenship.” The research conducted by the media service proved to be very laborious, as the parties themselves and the Bundestag do not systematically collect this data.
Strong differences between left and right parties
Significant differences can be seen between the parties. The Greens, for example, have the highest proportion of MPs with a migrant background, at 20 percent. In the Die Linke faction, the figure is 18.8 percent. In the SPD faction, 17.5 percent of the members have a migrant background. The CDU/CSU and AfD are far behind with 6.3 percent and 5.9 percent respectively.
Proportion of women higher than in the entire Bundestag
Interestingly, the proportion of women among members with a migrant background is 47.2 percent, which is significantly higher than in the Bundestag as a whole (32.4 percent). On average, MPs with a migrant background are younger (around 42.1 years old) than MPs overall (47.1 years old). There is a clear west-east divide among MPs with a migrant background: 64 come from western federal states and only 5 from the east, 4 come from Berlin.
Finally, the distribution across regions of origin was determined: 25 of the 73 members of parliament with a migrant background have a connection to countries in the European Union, including 7 to Poland. 18 members of parliament have a connection to Turkey, 8 to former states of the Soviet Union. 22 members of parliament are from other countries.
Deniz Nergiz, a sociologist of migration and publicist, summarizes these results: “Hostility and racism prevent a great many people with a migration background from becoming more actively involved in politics. Or they cause them to withdraw into resignation. The figures show a chronic weakness of the parties to specifically recruit diverse candidates (with a migration background).”
On the research of the media service:
73 MPs with a migrant background | Article | MEDIENDIENST INTEGRATION
Lists of MPs with a migrant background can also be found there.
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