Germany’s reunification 25 years on

By The Data Team

IN NOVEMBER last year, we published an earlier iteration of the above graphic, comparing eastern and western Germany as the country marked 25 years since the Berlin Wall's fall with jubilant celebrations. This Saturday Germany will throw another party, this time commemorating the 25th anniversary of reunification, but just 11 months on, these celebrations take place against the gloomy backdrops of the European migrant crisis and Volkswagen's emissions scandal.

Germans still debate the progress that has been made in bringing east and west together. In terms of motorways and other infrastructure, the east sparkles today. In certain social indicators, such as women’s participation in the workforce or the enrolment of toddlers in crèches, it even leads the west. But overall, according to polls, eastern Germans are still less content than westerners. After years of net migration from east to west (which only recently abated), parts of the east are depopulated, especially in rural areas. But with Germany's overall population projected to shrink, according to the European Commission, the expected influx of almost 1m migrants into the country this year could prove beneficial in the long-term.

Eastern Germany’s GDP per head is still only 67% of that in western Germany; its unemployment rate is still markedly higher. Yet full convergence between east and west is not a fair benchmark. The remaining east-west divide is now no more pronounced than the socio-economic fault lines that cross Belgium, Italy or Spain. That surely counts as success.

Take a look at Italy's north-south divide here.