What is the census? Grid cell results of the Census

2022 Census results

The 2022 Census results will be published in summer 2024 in the census database (only in German), among others, and also as downloadable INSPIRE compliant grid files with resolutions of 1 km and 100 m.

To facilitate the cross-border use of geospatial information in Europe, the European Parliament and the European Council adopted Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in the European Community (INSPIRE) already in 2007. This joint project requires a standardised description of the spatial data and their provision on the internet together with search, visualisation and download services.

  • Population figures
  • Demographic data on age, sex and, for instance, citizenship of inhabitants
  • Data on housing circumstances and the housing situation such as average residential space, rent level, vacancy rates and owner-occupier rates

2011 Census results

2011 Census results are available for all administrative regional units of Germany such as Länder, districts and municipalities. In addition, results of the 2011 Census are also available as downloadable files at grid level to be used independently of the existing regional units.

Tables for retrieval

In the census database (only in German) the 2011 Census results are provided in the form of tables for retrieval which you can customise to suit your individual needs. They cover the 11,339 municipalities, 412 administrative districts and towns not attached to a district, 16 Länder, and Germany as a whole. They are broken down by the following topics: population, buildings, dwellings, households and families.

Grid cells

Various datasets of the 2011 Census on population, buildings, dwellings, households and families are available also as INSPIRE compliant grid files with resolutions of 1 km and 100 m. As a matter of fact, many phenomena cut across administrative boundaries and many municipalities are so diverse that analyses are needed for smaller areas.
As an introduction to the subject, we would recommend a paper (only in German) on small-area breakdown, geo-referencing and grid representation regarding the 2011 Census. There are grid data for all of Germany.
The fully documented datasets can be downloaded here (only in German):

Population, 100 metre grid (only in German)

Datensatzbeschreibung zur Tabelle "Bevölkerung im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(xlsx, 85KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Bevölkerung im 100 Meter-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 105MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Datensatzbeschreibung zur Tabelle "Demographie im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(xlsx, 94KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Explanatory notes on "Demographie im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(PDF, 108KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Demographie im 100 Meter-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 315MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)

Families and households, 100 metre grid (only in German)

Datensatzbeschreibung zur Tabelle "Familien im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(xlsx, 93KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Familien im 100 Meter-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 68MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Datensatzbeschreibung zur Tabelle "Haushalte im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(xlsx, 91KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Haushalte im 100 Meter-Gitter" im CSV-format
(zip, 86MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)

Buildings and dwellings, 100 metre grid (only in German)

Datensatzbeschreibung zu den Tabellen "Wohnungen im 100 Meter-Gitter" und "Gebäude im 100 Meter-Gitter"
(xlsx, 98KB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Wohnungen im 100 Meter-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 256MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle "Gebäude im 100 Meter-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 114MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)

Tables of the Census-Atlas maps, 1 kilometre grid (only in German)

Download-Tabelle und Datensatzbeschreibung "Klassierte Werte im 1 Kilometer-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 2MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Download-Tabelle und Datensatzbeschreibung "Spitze Werte im 1 Kilometer-Gitter" in CSV-format
(zip, 5MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)
Karte eines 1 Kilometer-Gitters für Deutschland gemäß der INSPIRE Spezifikation
(zip, 9MB, file does not meet accessibility standards)

Grid geographies (only in German)

Geographic shape files for the grids used here are available on the website of the Service Centre of the Federal Government for Geo-Information and Geodesy.


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