Describe ONE demographic factor regarding population age in Germany that affects international migration into the country.

Record levels of migration to Germany over the last two years have called into question the country's demographic projections. But Germany's rapid shift to a more favourable profile is not a reason to postpone politically painful policy decisions about retirement and pensions.

At the beginning of this century, forecasts that were considered reliable predicted that Germany would lose more than ten million inhabitants by 2050, owing to declining immigration and a low average birth rate. Today, population projections are significantly brighter. According to the government's latest calculations, Germany's population could remain above 80 million until 2060, and the reduction in the labor supply might not be as drastic as was previously feared.

Demographic forecasts needed to be corrected significantly, because the number of immigrants to Germany has fluctuated wildly and unpredictably, as opposed to emigration from Germany, which has remained relatively stable.

During high-immigration periods - such as in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, or in the wake of the mid-1990s Balkan wars - population projections were fairly optimistic, because it was assumed that net migration would remain relatively high in the future as well.