Dominik Kettner, entrepreneur and precious metals expert, and Dieter Bohlen claim in an interview published on 15 November 2025: “Over 270.000 Germans emigrated last year. And we know that these are high achievers: engineers, entrepreneurs, doctors.” (time stamp: 28:05) According to Bohlen, the reason for the emigration is the dissatisfaction of Germans due to the high demand of bureaucracy. The two hosts exaggerate polarising social and economical issues with the aim of boosting Kettner’s sales figures on his financial literacy courses and precious metals. The statement is rated as mostly false because the figure is basically correct but is loosely interpreted in context.
Germany has a comparatively mobile society. This primarily involves migration within Europe. Half of all German emigrants move to other EU countries.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 269,986 German citizens emigrated in 2024. This part of Kettner’s statement is correct but it is important to note that 189,107 Germans moved back to Germany in the same year. Only about 31% of German emigrants leave Germany for good. The majority (61%) emigrate for a limited period of time and then return. Looking at Kettner’s figure in context, there was only a net loss of 80,879 German citizens to other countries in 2024.
To give a clear picture, here are the top three countries to which Germans emigrated in 2024:
| Country | Number of German citizens |
| Switzerland | 323,574 |
| Austria | 232,739 |
| Spain | 128,049 |
Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany
Why do Germans leave their homeland?
A report from 2021 states that only 15% of emigrants leave Germany because they are dissatisfied. Compared to the overall figures, this seems to be a relatively small proportion. The actual reasons for migration lie elsewhere.
The German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) asked more than 11,000 German citizens and found out that a total of 58% of respondents cited their own professional reasons as playing a major role in their decision to live abroad, and for a further 29%, it was their partner’s job.
A short, temporary stay abroad can be worthwhile in two ways. The study by the Federal Institute for Population Research shows that emigration increases life satisfaction by an average of about 0.5 points on a scale of 0 to 10. Meanwhile, moving within Germany only increases life satisfaction by 0.2 points.
In addition, the study found that stays abroad can lead to a significant increase in net earnings for both academic and non-academic emigrants.
Brain drain or just scaremongering?
Kettner describes the emigrants as ‘top performers’, but bases this on a loose definition. When asked for clarification, the entrepreneur’s statement refers to all people who work hard at their jobs. However, this strongly contradicts his specific mention of academic professions in the interview. There is no clear definition of the term ‘top performers’.
Assuming that ‘top performers’ refers to people with an academic degree, it can be said that the majority of emigrants are indeed highly qualified. 76% of the emigrants surveyed in the GERPS study have a university degree. In comparison, the proportion of people with a university degree in Germany is 25%. Researchers disagree on whether this constitutes a ‘brain drain’. This term refers to skilled workers leaving their country of origin permanently, resulting in a loss of knowledge and skills. According to the GERPS study, given that most stays abroad are temporary, it is more a case of ‘brain circulation’. ‘Brain circulation’ refers to the dynamic mobility of highly qualified professionals between countries, whereby knowledge, skills and capital flow back to the country of origin through return migration or networking, thereby promoting development and innovation.
Conclusion
Dominik Kettner’s statement contains a grain of truth but tends to disregard the complexity of the issue and make assumptions. Although the figure of approximately 270,000 German emigrants in 2024 is true, it is taken out of context in his analysis. In fact, only around 81,000 German citizens left Germany because in the same year 189,000 Germans returned. Kettner also ignores the fact that more than half of these emigrants only plan to spend a certain amount of time abroad. Even researchers are unsure whether there is a brain drain, but Kettner claims that this is the case in Germany. A differentiated, thorough analysis of the reasons behind emigration shows that although Germany has a high level of emigration, only a few remain abroad permanently; most return. Therefore, the statement can be classified as mostly false.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE © Rebecca Dodaro, Rebecca Kunz and Emily Madic, Stuttgart Media University, Germany
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