BERLIN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 83 million people were living in Germany by the end of 2018, a slight increase from that of 2017, which stood at 82.8 million, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) revealed on Friday.

Despite a "birth deficit", Germany's population increased again due to migration gains and had reached a new high at the end of 2018 since German unification, according to Destatis.

According to estimates by Destatis, the birth deficit, which is the difference between births and deaths, had been around 150,000 to 180,000 in 2018. In 2017, the birth deficit in Germany had been 147,000.

A long-term decline of Germany's population was set off by more people moving to Germany. The difference of new arrivals and departures from Germany is estimated to be between 340,000 and 380,000 additional people in 2018.

After the extremely strong net immigration in 2015, the migration balance declined for the third year in a row and roughly reached the level of 2012, according to Destatis. In 2017, 416,000 more people moved to Germany than left Germany.

Although the population figures are rising, demographic ageing in Germany is advancing. Destatis estimates that even in the scenario of strong immigration, only 73.1 million people will live in Germany by 2060 and only 16 percent of people living in Germany will be younger than 20 years.