Germany has so far deported 30% more people in 2024 than last year, which had already seen a 25% increase over 2022, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Friday.
He said stricter laws are taking effect.
There have been 6,316 deportations so far this year, compared to 4,792 in the same period in 2023.
In all of 2023, Germany deported 16,430 people, compared to 12,945 in 2022.
In 2023 and 2022, many people were deported to North Macedonia, Georgia and Austria. Germany deports many to other EU countries because the would-be residents of Germany lived in other EU countries before coming to Germany and therefore have to undergo their asylum procedures in that first country.
Deportations have taken on a renewed focus following the murder of a German policeman in Mannheim by an Afghan immigrant. To date, Germany has not deported citizens of Afghanistan and Syria to their home countries as those nations are considered unsafe.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he wanted to allow the deportation of serious criminals to Afghanistan and Syria again. The Ministry of the Interior is currently examining options for this.