Immigrant population hits new high in Germany

The number of people with an immigrant background in Germany rose 8.5 percent to a record 18.6 million in 2016, largely due to an increase in refugees, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday.Just over a fifth of the population - 22.5 percent - were first or second generation immigrants with at least one parent born without German citizenship, the office said.The figures come in the build-up to national elections in September, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Social Democrat challenger warn