Berlin and Paris are both among the most diverse cities in Europe, but you cannot compare them with a single “diversity index” score the way you can compare US states. Germany measures residents with a migration background or immigration history, while France largely prohibits official statistics on race and ethnicity and counts immigrants by country of birth instead. By the numbers each country does publish, Berlin has a higher share of residents with foreign roots (well over a third), while Paris and its wider region have a longer colonial-era history of migration from North and West Africa and a larger share of residents born outside Europe.
This guide explains how each country measures diversity, compares the two cities using the data that exists, and walks through the neighbourhoods that shape each city’s character.
Why there is no single diversity index for Europe
In the United States, the Census Bureau publishes a Diversity Index: the chance that two people chosen at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups. Europe has no equivalent official measure, and the two countries in this comparison take very different approaches.
How Germany measures it
Germany’s statistical offices long used the concept of a “migration background” (Migrationshintergrund): a person who was not born with German citizenship, or who has at least one parent who was not. From 2023, the federal statistics office began shifting to a narrower concept of “immigration history” (Einwanderungsgeschichte), covering people who immigrated themselves or whose parents both did. Berlin’s regional statistics office also publishes the number of foreign nationals living in the city. None of these measures records race or ethnicity directly.
How France measures it
France takes a stricter line. Its data protection law and a 2007 ruling by the Constitutional Council bar official statistics based on ethnic or racial origin in most cases, reflecting the republican principle that the state does not categorise citizens by origin. Instead, the national statistics institute (INSEE) counts immigrants (people born abroad as foreign nationals, even if they later became French) and, in some surveys, the descendants of immigrants.
The practical result: any Berlin vs Paris comparison compares slightly different things, and headline figures should be read with that in mind.
Berlin vs Paris at a glance
The figures below are rounded approximations from German and French official statistics. Treat them as a guide to scale rather than a like-for-like ranking.
| Measure | Berlin | Paris |
|---|---|---|
| City population | About 3.7 to 3.9 million | About 2.1 million (city proper) |
| Metro population | About 6 million (Berlin-Brandenburg region) | About 12 million (Ile-de-France) |
| Main official measure | Migration background / immigration history, foreign nationals | Immigrants by country of birth |
| Share with foreign roots or born abroad | Well over a third have a migration background; around a quarter hold foreign citizenship | Roughly one in five residents are immigrants, higher in some suburbs |
| Largest origin groups | Turkey, Poland, Syria, Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet states | Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Portugal, West Africa, China and Southeast Asia |
| Historical drivers | Guest worker programmes, reunification, EU mobility, refugees | Colonial ties, post-war labour migration, EU mobility, asylum |
Note that Paris city proper is small compared with Berlin. Much of the Paris region’s diversity lives in the suburbs (banlieues), especially Seine-Saint-Denis, where immigrants make up a considerably larger share of residents than in the city itself.
How Berlin became diverse
Guest workers and the Turkish community
West Germany signed recruitment agreements with several countries in the 1950s and 1960s, including Turkey in 1961. Many “guest workers” stayed and brought their families, and today Berlin has one of the largest Turkish communities outside Turkey. Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Wedding are the best-known centres of Turkish and Kurdish life, with markets such as the Turkish Market on the Maybachufer.
Vietnamese Berlin and the East
East Germany recruited contract workers from Vietnam, Mozambique and other socialist states. Many Vietnamese workers stayed after reunification, and Lichtenberg’s Dong Xuan Center, a large Asian wholesale market, is now a hub of Vietnamese Berlin. Overall, though, the former East Berlin districts remain less diverse than the West, a lasting legacy of the city’s division.
Refugees and EU mobility
Berlin took in large numbers of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq around 2015 and 2016, and many Ukrainians after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Sonnenallee in Neukölln is known for its Arab shops and restaurants. EU free movement has added large Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Italian and Spanish communities, and the city’s startup scene and relatively affordable rents (by Western European standards, at least until recently) attracted many Americans, Britons and Israelis.
How Paris became diverse
Colonial and post-colonial migration
France’s colonial history shaped Paris more than any other factor. Workers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia came in large numbers from the 1950s onward, and migration from West and Central African countries such as Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon grew later. People from France’s overseas departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and others) are French citizens and are not counted as immigrants at all, which is another reason official figures understate the city’s diversity.
Neighbourhoods that tell the story
- La Goutte d’Or and Barbès (18th arrondissement): long-standing North African and West African communities, with Château Rouge known for its African markets.
- Belleville (19th and 20th): a historic immigrant neighbourhood with Chinese, North African and Jewish communities side by side.
- The Quartier Asiatique (13th arrondissement): home to many Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian families, many of whom arrived as refugees in the 1970s and 1980s.
- La Chapelle (“Little Jaffna”): the centre of Paris’s Sri Lankan Tamil community.
- The Marais: the historic Jewish quarter, the Pletzl, around Rue des Rosiers.
The suburbs
Seine-Saint-Denis, north-east of Paris, is the most diverse department in mainland France, with a high share of immigrants and their descendants. It is also one of the country’s poorest departments, which has made it a focus of debates about integration, policing and urban policy.
Key differences between the two cities
- Scale and geography: Berlin’s diversity is largely inside city limits. In Paris, much of it sits in the banlieues beyond the Périphérique ring road.
- Origins: Berlin’s largest groups come from Turkey and Eastern Europe. Paris’s come mainly from North and West Africa, Southern Europe and Asia.
- Citizenship: Germany reformed its citizenship law in 2024 to allow dual citizenship more broadly and shorten residency requirements, which is changing how many Berliners are counted as foreign nationals. France has long had a more jus soli (birthright) approach for children born and raised in the country.
- Language: English is increasingly common in Berlin’s international districts; in Paris, French remains dominant, with Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese and West African languages widely spoken at home.
Following local news and data
Official statistics in both countries are updated regularly, but local reporting is the best way to follow community life. For Berlin, Berlin PR News publishes news and releases from the German capital, useful for keeping up with businesses, cultural events and organisations across the city’s districts.
For the French capital, Paris PR covers news and announcements from Paris, a practical source for following events and initiatives around the city and the wider Ile-de-France region.
When comparing numbers, always check whether a figure refers to the city proper or the wider region, and which definition (migration background, foreign citizenship or immigrant status) it uses.
How they compare with US cities
American readers often ask how Berlin and Paris stack up against New York or Los Angeles. The honest answer is that the data does not line up neatly: US figures are based on race and Hispanic origin, while European figures are based on birthplace and citizenship. In broad terms, both cities are about as internationally mixed as many large American metros, but with very different origin groups. Our comparison of Florida vs New York shows how the US measure works for comparison, and California vs Texas covers the two most populous US states. More in the Daily Bites category.
Frequently asked questions
Is Berlin or Paris more diverse?
It depends on the measure. Berlin has a higher share of residents with a migration background within city limits, while the Paris region has a larger population of immigrants from outside Europe, much of it in the suburbs. There is no single official index that ranks them directly.
Why doesn’t France collect ethnic statistics?
French law and a 2007 Constitutional Council decision restrict official data based on ethnic or racial origin, reflecting the principle that the state should not categorise citizens by origin. INSEE counts immigrants by country of birth instead.
What does migration background mean in Germany?
It traditionally described people who were not born with German citizenship or who had at least one parent who was not. Since 2023, official statistics have been moving to a narrower “immigration history” definition.
What is the largest immigrant group in Berlin?
People with Turkish roots form the largest group, followed by communities from Poland, Syria, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
Which Paris neighbourhoods are the most multicultural?
La Goutte d’Or and Barbès, Belleville, the 13th arrondissement’s Asian quarter and La Chapelle are among the most multicultural, along with suburbs in Seine-Saint-Denis.
