Editing Lower Saxony (section)

==Demographics==
{{historical populations|13=1960|14=6,576,137|15=1970|16=7,121,824|17=1980|18=7,256,386|19=1990|20=7,393,302|21=2001|22=7,956,416|23=2011|24=7,777,992|25=2022|26=7,943,265|footnote=source:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.statistik.niedersachsen.de/themenbereiche/bevoelkerung/themenbereich-bevoelkerung---tabellen-87673.html |title=Themenbereich: Bevölkerung – Tabellen |access-date=18 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718204312/https://www.statistik.niedersachsen.de/themenbereiche/bevoelkerung/themenbereich-bevoelkerung---tabellen-87673.html |archive-date=18 July 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Germany: States and Major Cities|url=https://citypopulation.de/en/germany/cities/}}</ref>|11=1950|12=6,796,500}}
At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Niedersachsen leben mehr Ausländer als je zuvor|url=http://www.abendblatt.de/region/niedersachsen/article205208645/In-Niedersachsen-leben-mehr-Auslaender-als-je-zuvor.html|access-date=26 August 2016|work=Hamburger Abendblatt|date=16 March 2015|language=de|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127034314/https://www.abendblatt.de/region/niedersachsen/article205208645/In-Niedersachsen-leben-mehr-Auslaender-als-je-zuvor.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 
At the end of 2023, there were almost 1,085,315 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.<ref>{{citation|title=Ausländer: Bundesländer, Stichtag, Geschlecht/Altersjahre/Familienstand, Ländergruppierungen/Staatsangehörigkeit|url=https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis//online?operation=table&code=12521-0021&bypass=true&levelindex=0&levelid=1716476191295#abreadcrumb|access-date=23 May 2024|language=de|archive-date=23 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523145746/https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis//online?operation=table&code=12521-0021&bypass=true&levelindex=0&levelid=1716476191295#abreadcrumb|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The highest share of migrants to Germans in Lower Saxony is in the urban agglomeration of [[Braunschweig]] (44.8%) which consists the most populated parts of [[Salzgitter]] e.g [[Salzgitter-Lebenstedt|Lebenstedt]] or [[Thiede]], the town [[Wolfenbüttel]], parts of the districts [[Landkreis Peine]], [[Landkreis Gifhorn]], [[Landkreis Helmstedt]] and [[Landkreis Wolfenbüttel]]. 46.4% of [[Salzgitter]] have a foreign background, which has the highest percentile of people from different countries in Lower Saxony.  <ref>https://braunschweig-impuls.de/wp-content/uploads/Braunschweig-imPuls-2022-Buergerstiftung-Braunschweig.pdf.pdf</ref><ref>https://www.braunschweiger-zeitung.de/braunschweig/article241647328/Braunschweigs-Einwohnerzahl-ist-leicht-gestiegen.html</ref>

The following table illustrates the largest minority groups in Lower Saxony:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background:#efefef;"|Rank
! style="background:#efefef;"|Nationality
! style="background:#efefef;"|Population estimate (31.12.2022) 
! style="background:#efefef;"|Population estimate (31.12.2023) 
|-
|1||{{flag|Ukraine}}||122,130||120,325
|-
|2||{{flag|Poland}}||101,355||102,760
|-
|3||{{flag|Syria}}||96,330||100,310
|-
|4||{{flag|Turkey}}||90,715||96,405
|-
|5||{{flag|Romania}}||64,675||79,890
|-
|6||{{flag|Iraq}}||45,360||47,415
|-
|7||{{flag|Bulgaria}}||31,155||36,410
|-
|8||{{flag|Afghanistan}}||26,755||31,270
|-
|9||{{flag|Netherlands}}||29,725||29,300
|-
|10||{{flag|Italy}}||28,950||29,085
|-
|}

===Vital statistics===
<ref>{{cite web|title=Area and Population – Monthly publication|url=http://www.statistik-portal.de/Statistik-Portal/en/en_inhalt01.asp|website=Statistical Offices of the Länder and the Federal Statiscal Office|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225053654/http://www.statistik-portal.de/Statistik-Portal/en/en_inhalt01.asp|archive-date=25 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Births from January–October 2016 = {{Increase}} 62,761
* Births from January–October 2017 = {{decrease}} 61,314
* Deaths from January–October 2016 = {{DecreasePositive}} 75,733
* Deaths from January–October 2017 = {{IncreaseNegative}} 75,804
* Natural growth from January–October 2016 = {{Increase}} -12,972
* Natural growth from January–October 2017 = {{Decrease}} -14,490

===Religion===
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religion in Lower Saxony (Census 2011):<ref name=Census2011Religion>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Aufsaetze_Archiv/2014_08_NI_Statistische_Monatshefte_Religion.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5 |title=Religion und Glauben im Blickpunkt des Zensus 2011 |date=2011 |website=Zensus 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509130337/https://www.zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Aufsaetze_Archiv/2014_08_NI_Statistische_Monatshefte_Religion.pdf%3Bjsessionid%3DF5626441844421EA17C371AB9414285D.1_cid380?__blob=publicationFile&v=5 |archive-date=9 May 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=15 May 2017 }}</ref>
| label1 = [[Protestant Church in Germany|Protestant Church]]
| value1 = 51.48
| color1 = DodgerBlue
| label2 = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| value2 = 18.34
| color2 = #2243B6
| label3 = [[Free church|Evangelical Free Churches]]
| value3 = 1.26
| color3 = Turquoise
| label4 = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]]
| value4 = 0.85
| color4 = Orchid
| label5 = Jewish
| value5 = 0.07
| color5 = Brown
| label6 = Other religions
| value6 = 2.20
| color6 = Chartreuse
| label7 = [[Irreligion|Not religious]]
| value7 = 25.80
| color7 = Honeydew
}}

[[File:St-andreas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[St. Andreas, Hildesheim]]]]

The 2011 census stated that a majority of the population were Christians (71.93%); 51.48% of the total population were members of the Protestant Church in Germany, 18.34% were Catholics, 2.11% were members of other Christian denominations, 2.27% were members of other religions. 25.8% have no denomination.<ref name=Census2011Religion/> Even though there is a high level of official belonging to a Christian denomination, the people{{snd}}especially in the cities{{snd}}are highly secular in behaviour.

As of 2020, the [[Protestant Church in Germany]] was the faith of 41.1% of the population.<ref name="EKD2020">[https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2020.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221111729/https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2020.pdf |date=21 December 2021 }} EKD, November 2021</ref> It is organised in the five [[Landeskirche]]n named [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick|Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick]] (comprising the former [[Free State of Brunswick]]), [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover]] (comprising the former [[Province of Hanover]]), [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg]] (comprising the former [[Free State of Oldenburg]]), [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe]] (comprising the former [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe]]), and [[Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany|Evangelical Reformed Church]] (covering all the state).

Together, these member churches of the [[Protestant Church in Germany]] gather a substantial part of the Protestant population in Germany.

The [[Catholic Church]] was the faith of 16.3% of the population in 2020.<ref name="EKD2020"/> It is organised in the three dioceses of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück|Osnabrück]] (western part of the state), [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster|Münster]] (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg) and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim|Hildesheim]] (northern and eastern part of the state). The Catholic faith is mainly concentrated to the regions of Oldenburger Münsterland, the region of Osnabrück, the region of Hildesheim and in the Western Eichsfeld.
42.6% of the Low Saxons were irreligious or adhere to other religions.<ref name="EKD2020"/> [[Judaism]], [[Islam]] and [[Buddhism]] are minority faiths.