Germany news: 23 million tune in for World Cup win

Germany’s working-age population will be reduced by more than 4 million people by 2036, a new study has found.

The report, by the Institute for German Economy (IW) in Cologne, shows that the decline is due to retirement, low birth rates and migration policies intended to deter foreign workers from moving to the country.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition has made curbing immigration one of its goals in a bid to reduce support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has become Germany’s most supported party according to recent opinion polls, overtaking Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

According to IW’s Holger Schäfer, Germany is already in the middle of “demographic change.” He added that the German economy will lack the number of workers needed to generate prosperity and sustain the welfare state.

His recommendations? People should be encouraged to work more, and at the same time, it should be made easier for qualified workers to move to Germany from abroad.

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The head of the seniors’ organization of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party said the current government’s future will be decided based on its pension reforms.

“The pension reforms will determine the fate of this coalition, I’m sure about that,” Hubert Hüppe told the Rheinische Post.

According to Hüppe, the reforms must mean that everyone plays a role, not just Germany’s senior residents.

“This is only possible if everyone is included in the social reforms, including civil servants' pensions and other pension schemes,” Hüppe added.

The reform to Germany’s pension system has been making headlines in the country, with Chancellor Merz and his party trying to push through money-saving changes to the country’s current system, triggering criticism from trade unions and workers’ associations.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeierlanded in Jakarta for an official visit to Indonesia.

Steinmeier was greeted by President Prabowo Subianto and several ministers, who reportedly sang traditional Indonesian songs in honor of their guest, with the German delegation singing in German.

Indonesia is the most populous democracy in Southeast Asia with a population of some 280 million people. It is also the world’s biggest Muslim country.

After his visit, Steinmeier will hold visits to the Philippines and Uzbekistan.

Germany’s national team made a flying start to the 2026 World Cup with a 7-1 win over Curacao. The success was also reflected in the number of viewers at home.

Almost 23.5 million people tuned in to public broadcaster ARD to watch the game, making a market share of 70.2%, rating form AGF Videoforschung said.

The match was also broadcast via live stream on MagentaTV, Deutsche Telekom’s TV platform, but the company does not provide any viewing figures for its streaming service.

The number of viewers marks a stark difference to Germany’s opening game in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which was viewed by some 9 million people, with Julian Nagelsmann’s team drawing some 22 million viewers for its first Euro 2024 game, which was also held in Germany.

The World Cup’s opening game between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa reached some 10 million viewers in Germany, providing evidence for high interest in the tournament as a whole.

Welcome to another daily blog covering all the latest in Germany from DW’s Bonn newsroom!

We’ll be looking at the reactions to Germany’s emphatic 7-1 win over Curacao in the World Cup.

Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has landed in Indonesia and we will be following all the updates from his visit. 

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