Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by population

Name: Regions of Germany (NUTS 2) by population, 2016
Creator: Eurostat, European Commission
License: Eurostat reuse policy (commercial and non-commercial reuse, attribution required)

Düsseldorf had the highest population of 38 regions in 2016, at 5.17 million. Trier had the lowest, at 532,715. The median was 1.83 million and the figure for Germany was 82.18 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest5,173,623Düsseldorf

Lowest532,715Trier

Median1,834,79738 regions

Germany82,175,684History

All regions, 2016

CSV Chart (SVG)

persons. Source: Eurostat. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

Rank	Regions	2016 persons	Change on 2015
1	Düsseldorf	5,173,623	+1.3%
2	Oberbayern	4,588,944	+1.5%
3	Köln	4,422,371	+1.4%
4	Stuttgart	4,069,533	+1.5%
5	Darmstadt	3,922,369	+1.5%
6	Arnsberg	3,597,297	+1.1%
7	Berlin	3,520,031	+1.4%
8	Schleswig-Holstein	2,858,714	+1%
9	Karlsruhe	2,761,977	+1.5%
10	Münster	2,614,229	+1.3%
11	Weser-Ems	2,496,176	+1.4%
12	Brandenburg	2,484,826	+1.1%
13	Sachsen-Anhalt	2,245,470	+0.4%
14	Freiburg	2,224,535	+1.5%
15	Thüringen	2,170,714	+0.6%
16	Hannover	2,132,290	+1.1%
17	Detmold	2,057,996	+1.4%
18	Rheinhessen-Pfalz	2,031,780	+1%
19	Schwaben	1,846,020	+1.4%
20	Tübingen	1,823,573	+1.6%
21	Hamburg	1,787,408	+1.4%
22	Mittelfranken	1,738,686	+1.4%
23	Lüneburg	1,699,969	+1.3%
24	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	1,612,362	+0.8%
25	Dresden	1,602,754	+0.6%
26	Braunschweig	1,598,164	+1.2%
27	Koblenz	1,488,308	+0.8%
28	Chemnitz	1,465,612	+0.2%
29	Unterfranken	1,306,048	+0.6%
30	Kassel	1,213,712	+1.1%
31	Niederbayern	1,212,119	+1.2%
32	Oberpfalz	1,092,339	+0.9%
33	Oberfranken	1,059,358	+0.3%
34	Gießen	1,040,091	+1.1%
35	Leipzig	1,016,485	+1.7%
36	Saarland	995,597	+0.7%
37	Bremen	671,489	+1.5%
38	Trier	532,715	+2.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the regions are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_r_pjanaggr3/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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Questions

Which region has the highest population?

Düsseldorf, with 5.17 million in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which region has the lowest population?

Trier, with 532,715 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3). Retrieved 2026-10-08.