Racism in Germany: So far discrimination is widespread

Discrimination due to racist attributions is relatively widespread in Germany. According to a current study, half of all people who feel belonging to ethnic or religious minorities are experiencing regular racist discrimination.

As the results of a representative survey for the current issue of the national discrimination and racism monitor show, this was the case in 54 percent of the people that are referred to as “racist” in technical jargon.

In the survey between August 2024 and January 2025, 61 percent of Muslim women stated that they felt discriminated against at least once a month within a year. The proportion of black people was similarly high: According to the study, 62 percent of black men and 63 percent of black women reported to have experienced everyday discrimination at least once a month in the past twelve months. In more than four out of five cases, the skin color was the reason for discrimination.

For comparison: 32 percent of people who, according to their counterparts are not perceived by their counterpart, experienced discrimination at least once a month within a year – for example because of their gender, age or other characteristics or attributions.

In the group of Germans with a migration background, perception is mentioned as “not German” as the most common cause of discrimination. According to the definition of the Federal Statistical Office, all people who did not have German citizenship at birth have a migration background, as well as those with at least one parent to whom this applies.

While open racism does not lose relevance, according to the study, more subtle forms of racist attitudes are becoming increasingly established. The experiences of discrimination, which the participants described by the survey, are “stared at”, harassment and insult, among other things.

According to the study, 23 percent of the German population believes that ethnic and religious minorities made too many demands for equality. 22 percent of the approximately 9,500 respondents between the ages of 18 and 73 also believed that these minorities had benefited economically more economically in recent years than they were entitled to.

From the perspective of the Turkish community in Germany (TGD), cohesion in society has been badly damaged in the past Bundestag election campaign. The Federal Chairman of the umbrella organization, Gökay Sofuoglu, explained this week: “For people with a history of migration, the permanently negative discourse on migration and diversity, driven by right -wing extremists, is the largest stress test in recent history.”

What is not surprising: Those who are affected by racist discrimination tend to have less trust in state institutions. According to the report, which bears the title “hidden patterns, visible consequences”, the trust of racially marked people in the federal government fell from 58 percent in 2022 to 38 percent in the current survey, especially Muslims and Asian people.

The head of the office of the national discrimination and racism monitor, Cihan Sinanoglu, said that in addition to the migration debate in the election campaign, another obvious reason was the different view of the Middle East conflict and “what happened after October 7th”. In this context, migration researcher Naika Foroutan called restrictions on the demonstration and science freedom as well as police force- especially in Berlin- and the rise of the AfD.

Of the Muslim people, the information not to have experienced discrimination, stated 87 percent, they trusted the police. The value was only 19 percent among those who have found out that they have often experienced discrimination against police officers.

The national discrimination and racism monitor is created by the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DEZIM) and live through the federal program “Democracy!” of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth. According to the team of the team, the empirical research of the monitor also places a special focus on the experiences of those affected by racism so that they are not banalized as “personal anecdotes”.