Census Shows That Germany's Population is Lower Than Initially Thought

1.5 million fewer people

Germany has found that it has 1.5 million fewer people than was generally assumed, following the first census since reunification in 1990.

The new data revealed a population of 80.2 million, the federal statistics office Destatis said.

The census in the EU's most populous country was carried out on 9 May, 2011.

Until now, the census figures dated back to a West German one conducted in 1987, and a 1981 one in the former communist East Germany.