Population development of Cottbus

This article shows the population development of Cottbus in tabular and graphical form. The development can also be traced using the article on the city's history .

On December 31, 2019, the “ official population ” of Cottbus was 99,678 according to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office (only main residences and after comparison with the other state offices ).

Population development

 

Population development in Cottbus. Above from 1400 to 2018. Below an excerpt from 1871

The population development of Cottbus can be traced back to the Middle Ages . Until the beginning of modern times , the city had only a few thousand inhabitants. The population grew only slowly and fell again and again due to the numerous wars, epidemics and famine. In 1484 there was a great plague of locusts, which led to a famine. In 1496 the plague entered the city. Around 2000 people fell victim to this epidemic. In 1585 the plague claimed 1,700 deaths.

The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and the renewed outbreak of the plague in 1626 with 900 deaths and 1632 with 600 deaths led to a decline in the population. In 1652 the city had only 1,300 inhabitants, 280 citizens and 1,020 residents . Before the war it was 3500 inhabitants. It was not until industrialization in the 19th century that the city's population grew very quickly. In 1801 only 5,000 people lived in the city, by 1900 there were already 40,000.

The effects of the Second World War are clearly visible . The city lost about a third of its residents. The population fell from 56,000 in 1939 to 38,000 in December 1945. On September 4, 1976, the population of the city of Cottbus exceeded the limit of 100,000, making it a major city . In 1989 the population reached its historic high of 128,943. Since the turnaround in the GDR , Cottbus has lost around 20 percent of its inhabitants (27,272 people) due to high unemployment and the decline in the birth rate up to the end of 2009, despite considerable incorporation (expansion of the urban area by over 240 percent). A further decline was expected. The city administration forecast a population of around 87,000 for 2020.

On December 31, 2009, the “ official population ” of Cottbus was 101,671 according to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office (only main residences and after comparison with the other state offices ). There were around 300 to 400 more deaths than births per year and more people moving than moving. Most of the residents moved to the surrounding area. The surrounding communities are seeing population gains. The reason is predominantly the desire for an affordable home that is difficult to realize in the city itself.

The status of a large city with over 100,000 inhabitants could be maintained until the 2011 census through incorporations (1993 and 2003) from the surrounding area. Since these municipal areas are significantly less developed, the population density has also decreased significantly as a result. While on December 31, 2000 it was 720 people per square kilometer, on December 31, 2007 only 618 people lived in one square kilometer. The proportion of foreigners at the end of 2000 was 2.8 percent. Seven years later, on December 31, 2007, this proportion was 3.4 percent. The population continued to decline until 2014. Since then it has increased again and between 2016 and 2018 Cottbus was a big city again. In 2019, the population fell back below 100,000 to 99,678.

The following overview shows the number of inhabitants according to the respective territorial status. Up to 1814 it is mostly an estimate, then census results (¹) or official updates by the State Central Administration for Statistics (until 1989) and the State Statistical Office (from 1990). From 1871, the information relates to the “local population”, from 1925 to the resident population and since 1966 to the “population at the place of the main residence”. Before 1871, the number of inhabitants was determined according to inconsistent survey procedures.

From 1400 to 1944

(respective territorial status)

Year / date Residents 1400 2,000 1599 3,500 1652 1,300 1719 3,205 1730 2.263 1737 4,000 1750 3,205 1783 4,396 1801 5,400 1807 5,503 1814 6.137 December 1, 1816 ¹ 7.107 December 1, 1828 ¹ 7,905

date Residents December 3, 1834 ¹ 8,079 December 3, 1840¹ 8,184 December 3, 1843 ¹ 8,253 December 3, 1846 ¹ 8,727 December 3, 1849 ¹ 8,978 December 3, 1852 ¹ 9,228 December 3, 1855 ¹ 9,569 December 3, 1858 ¹ 9,758 December 3, 1861 ¹ 11,112 December 3, 1864¹ 12,125 December 3, 1867 ¹ 13,370 December 1, 1871 ¹ 18,927 December 1, 1875 ¹ 22,612

date Residents December 1, 1880¹ 25,584 December 1, 1885 ¹ 28,249 December 1, 1890¹ 34,910 December 2, 1895 ¹ 38.043 December 1, 1900 ¹ 39,322 December 1, 1905 ¹ 46,269 December 1, 1910¹ 48,643 December 1, 1916 ¹ 49,437 December 5, 1917 ¹ 49,448 October 8, 1919 ¹ 48,046 June 16, 1925 ¹ 50,420 June 16, 1933 ¹ 52,081 May 17, 1939 ¹ 55.509

¹ census result

Source: City of Cottbus

From 1945 to 1989

(respective territorial status)

date Residents December 1, 1945 ¹ 37,791 October 29, 1946 ¹ 49.131 December 31, 1949² 51,662 August 31, 1950 ¹ 60,874 December 31, 1955 64.508 December 31, 1956 64,970 December 31, 1957 64,830 December 31, 1958 65,355 December 31, 1959 66,099 December 31, 1960² 66,813 December 31, 1961 67,733 December 31, 1962 69,472 December 31, 1963 71,390

date Residents December 31, 1964 ¹ 73,358 December 31, 1965 75,541 December 31, 1966 76,335 December 31, 1967 78,069 December 31, 1968 79.502 December 31, 1969 81,095 December 31, 1970² 82,896 December 31, 1971 85.154 December 31, 1972 88.034 December 31, 1973 90,561 December 31, 1974 94.293 December 31, 1975 96,944 December 31, 1976 101,265

date Residents December 31, 1977 105.182 December 31, 1978 107,623 December 31, 1979 110.226 December 31, 1980² 113.479 December 31, 1981 ¹ 116.092 December 31, 1982 118,456 December 31, 1983² 120,723 December 31, 1984 122,886 December 31, 1985 124,752 December 31, 1986 126,592 December 31, 1987 128,136 December 31, 1988 128,639 December 31, 1989 128,943

¹ Census
results ² from: Cottbus in the 35th year of the GDR - facts and figures

Source: State Central Administration for Statistics

Since 1990

For a graphical representation of the development since 1990 see section Population forecast

(respective territorial status)

year Residents December 31, 1990 125,891 December 31, 1991 123,321 December 31, 1992 122,883 December 31, 1993 128.121 December 31, 1994 125,643 December 31, 1995 123.214 December 31, 1996 120,812 December 31, 1997 118,463 December 31, 1998 114,872 December 31, 1999 110,894 December 31, 2000 108,491 December 31, 2001 105,954

year Residents December 31, 2002 103,847 December 31, 2003 107,549 December 31, 2004 106,415 December 31, 2005 105,309 December 31, 2006 103,837 December 31, 2007 102,811 December 31, 2008 101,785 December 31, 2009 101,671 December 31, 2010 102.091 May 9, 2011 ¹ 99,984 December 31, 2011 99,974 December 31, 2012 99.913

year Residents December 31 2013 99,595 December 31, 2014 99,491 December 31, 2015 99,687 December 31, 2016 100,416 December 31, 2017 101.036 December 31, 2018 100.219 December 31, 2019 99,678

¹ census result

Source: Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office

• 

  Population development within today's limits since 1875

• 

  Population development projections

• 

  Age structure forecast

Population forecast

In their 2009 publication “Who, where, how many? - Population in Germany 2025 ”, in which the Bertelsmann Foundation provides data on the development of the population for all municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants in Germany, a 15.4 percent decline in Cottbus (15,940 people) is predicted between 2006 and 2025.

Absolute population development 2012–2030 - forecast for Cottbus (main residences):

In 2011 there was a succession forecast.

The prognoses opposite compared to the real development from 1990 to 2018

Forecast 2009

date	Residents
December 31, 2006	103,837
December 31, 2010	99,529
December 31, 2015	94,959
December 31, 2020	91,285
December 31, 2025	87,897

Source: Bertelsmann Foundation

2011 forecast

date	Residents
December 31, 2009	101,620
December 31, 2015	97,380
December 31, 2020	94,400
December 31, 2025	91,290
December 31, 2030	87,990

Source: Bertelsmann Foundation

population

According to the city administration, there were exactly 100,034 residents with main residence in Cottbus on December 31, 2010. Of these, 48,842 were male and 51,192 were female. In addition, 1869 residents with secondary residence lived in the city. 3.2 percent of the population came from abroad. The population density was 609 inhabitants per km². The most populous district was Sandow with 16,181 inhabitants, the poorest district was Skadow with 529 inhabitants.

The population figures in the following table refer to December 31 of the respective year.

Residents	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2015
with main residence	108.241	105.493	103.239	106,784	105,422	104,413	102,690	101,448	100,068	99,697	100.034	99,519
of which male	52,383	51,136	50,149	52.030	51,456	51.030	50,100	49,472	48,732	48,540	48,842	48,888
of which female	55,858	54,357	53,090	54,754	53,966	53,382	52,590	51,976	51,336	51,157	51.192	50,631
Proportion of foreigners in%	2.8	3.1	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.5	3.4	3.2	3.1	3.2%	5.5%
with secondary residence	6,573	4,547	4,840	5,670	4,934	4,724	4,774	4,571	4,352	4.120	1,869	1,850
Inhabitants per km²	720	702	687	650	642	636	625	618	609	607	609	606

Population movement

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Births	804	738	766	714	792	715	736	725	729	790
Deaths	1,058	1,064	1,079	1,126	1,167	1,076	1,088	1,055	1,135	1,085
Immigration	4,702	4,889	4,666	4,914	4,969	4,665	4,276	4,415	4,266	4,646
Moves away	6,929	7,310	6,607	6.367	5,821	5,334	5,662	5,322	5,227	4,724
modification	−2,481	−2,747	−2.254	−1,865	−1,227	−1.030	−1,738	−1,237	−1,367	−373

Population by districts

Population distribution of Cottbus, 2008

The population figures in the following table refer to December 31 of the respective year.

District	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2015
Branitz	1,273	1,326	1,347	1,355	1,355	1,355	1,380	1,369	1,385	1,396	1,443
Little bit	1,187	1,217	1,227	1,219	1,195	1,195	1,185	1,167	1,143	1,133	1,148
Dobbrick	1,879	1.921	1,896	1,854	1,875	1,842	1,824	1,809	1,799	1,778	1,682
Gallinchen				2,680	2,688	2,693	2,671	2,632	2,635	2,616	2,581
Great Gaglow				1,433	1,463	1,450	1,458	1,432	1,428	1,404	1,391
Kahren	1,246	1,267	1,304	1,319	1,337	1,334	1.314	1,300	1,273	1,247	1,246
Kiekebusch				1,362	1,358	1,357	1,343	1,345	1,337	1,309	1,300
Madlow	1,900	1,890	1,969	1,935	1,957	1,951	1,891	1,805	1,680	1,655	1,564
Merzdorf	858	844	1,205	1,216	1,229	1,225	1,217	1,198	1,149	1,123	1.108
center	8,071	8,082	8,064	8,127	8,243	8,280	8,434	8,629	8,716	8,815	9,913
Saxon village	20,881	19,075	17,435	15,934	14,937	14,499	14,036	13,447	13.164	12,948	11,745
Sandow	18,124	17,487	16,921	16,685	16,543	16,385	16,411	16,460	16.206	16,035	15,541
Saspow	653	661	676	689	683	682	692	705	708	695	693
Schmellwitz	18,754	18,518	18,159	17,806	17,341	16,785	15,926	15,179	14,540	14,425	14,042
Sielow	3,471	3,539	3,556	3,559	3,581	3,579	3,593	3,630	3,613	3,640	3,547
Skadow	505	505	537	541	554	557	540	541	539	542	515
Spremberger suburb	14,901	14,658	14,324	14,538	14,395	14,349	13,954	14,050	14,057	14,189	14,050
Stroebitz	13,779	13,724	13,846	13,759	13,923	14.054	14,033	14,021	13,970	14,034	15,355
Willmersdorf	759	779	773	773	765	761	744	729	726	713	655
total	108.241	105.493	103.239	106,784	105,422	104,374	102,690	101,448	100,068	99,697	99,519

Age structure according to districts

The population figures in the two following tables refer to July 31, 2005.

District	Age: 0-9	Age: 10-19	Age: 20-29	Age: 30-39	Age: 40-49
Branitz	113	146	150	185	274
Little bit	92	141	143	162	217
Dobbrick	140	215	306	256	428
Gallinchen	165	297	410	320	608
Great Gaglow	81	142	258	182	296
Kahren	102	184	191	169	306
Kiekebusch	56	135	185	161	294
Madlow	123	180	284	210	329
Merzdorf	96	154	151	178	284
center	533	736	1,806	1,429	1,303
Saxon village	1.002	1,705	2,586	1,687	2,739
Sandow	885	1.313	2,206	1.932	2.139
Saspow	48	102	75	93	142
Schmellwitz	1,350	2,066	2,948	2,450	3,345
Sielow	254	494	489	475	793
Skadow	39	66	76	66	121
Spremberger suburb	786	1.104	2,079	1,766	2,193
Stroebitz	921	1,196	3,939	2,278	1,957
Willmersdorf	58	89	99	123	156
total	6,844	10,465	18,381	14,122	17,924

District	Age: 50-59	Age: 60-69	Age: 70-79	Age: 80-89	Age: 90-99	Age: from 100
Branitz	198	230	176	26th	5	0
Little bit	166	159	110	33	7th	0
Dobbrick	279	156	107	31	3	0
Gallinchen	464	332	142	32	3	0
Great Gaglow	280	159	89	35	8th	0
Kahren	195	130	73	29	4th	0
Kiekebusch	221	201	117	31	11	0
Madlow	268	332	191	94	19th	0
Merzdorf	166	105	95	22nd	1	1
center	931	943	663	324	98	3
Saxon village	2,376	1,577	871	436	89	2
Sandow	2,187	3,676	1,875	648	123	3
Saspow	90	80	41	10	4th	1
Schmellwitz	2.147	1,784	1.011	434	88	1
Sielow	528	349	209	62	17th	0
Skadow	79	51	43	20th	0	0
Spremberger suburb	1,679	2,546	1.934	630	114	2
Stroebitz	1,747	1,858	978	415	82	0
Willmersdorf	74	86	65	22nd	4th	0
total	14,075	14,754	8,690	3,334	680	13

literature

• Imperial Statistical Office (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook for the German Empire , 1880–1918
• Statistisches Reichsamt (Ed.): Statistical yearbook for the German Reich , 1919–1941 / 42
• German Association of Cities (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook of German Communities , 1890 ff.
• State Central Administration for Statistics (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook of the German Democratic Republic , 1955–1989
• Bertelsmann Stiftung (Ed.): Who, where, how many? - Population in Germany 2025. Practical knowledge for municipalities. Bertelsmann Stiftung publishing house, Gütersloh 2009, ISBN 978-3-86793-042-0

Web links

Commons : Statistics from Cottbus  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg: Online tables
• City of Cottbus: statistical information
• Bertelsmann Stiftung: Guide to the community
• ZENSUS 2011: Results for the city of Cottbus

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Population in the State of Brandenburg according to municipalities, offices and municipalities not subject to official registration on December 31, 2019 (XLSX file; 223 KB) (updated official population figures) ( help on this ).
2. ^ Population of Cottbus. Result of the 2011 census as of the reporting date May 9, 2011
3. ^ Bertelsmann Foundation: Population forecast
4. ^ City of Cottbus: Population