Germany’s population grew by 1.3% to 84.4 million, the biggest annual jump since the country’s reunification more than three decades ago.

The increase of 1.12 million people was solely down to foreigners moving to Germany, statistics office Destatis said Tuesday in a statement. Net immigration hit 1.46 million — up from 329,000 a year earlier — “mainly caused by the refugee movements from Ukraine.”

As in previous years, more people died than were born in 2022. The excess of deaths over births rose to 327,000.

Germany faces a bigger demographic drag on growth than any of its western peers for the next decade, according to Bloomberg Economics. Without immigrants to replenish its ranks, pay taxes and work, Europe’s biggest economy risks running out of labor to fuel growth.

The country accepted more than 1 million Syrians amid the refugee crisis in 2014-2015. The number of Ukrainians in Germany rose more than sixfold last year, according to Destatis.

--With assistance from Stephan Kahl.