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GERMANY IS OVER

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell | May 7, 2026



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https://sites.google.com/view/sources-germany-is-over/

Germany is heading towards a population collapse. For decades, birth rates have remained below replacement levels, while people are living longer than ever before. As a result, the population is now rapidly aging and facing a growing imbalance between the number of workers and retirees. This shift is putting pressure not only on Germany’s pension system, but also on jobs, healthcare, and the services people rely on every day.

So how did Germany get here and what will be the consequences? Is there a way to avoid this demographic collapse and if so, how?

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Comments

This post currently has 50 comments.

  1. @msigurko

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    You got it backwards, Kurzgesagt.

    The welfare state IS one of the major drivers of the population decline.

    When people can just live off the gov they turn lazy and selfish and the last thing they think of is getting in to the liability of having children.

    While people that work hard to get food and roof almost always want family around them. It gives them a purpose and drive to work hard.

  2. @chillsahoy2640

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    I wonder if a combination of several relatively small changes could help mitigate the worst outcomes? For example, people who are not part of the labour force can still contribute to their community, for example by helping with childcare or doing things that are not normally considered labour. There's also the possibility that we might decide that this economic system is too fragile and it isn't really going to be sustainable, and we might move away from profit-seeking at all costs and take a more moderate approach, where some profits are sacrificed to ensure that workers (and pensioners, and all citizens!) are well taken care of. While the "fertility crisis" might still be there in the sense that there are fewer younger people, but it might be possible to sidestep some of the issues by having an economic system that isn't so sensitive population age distribution.

  3. @pmeagle

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Basically every problem current and future generations have is generational debt projected on a "infinite growth" promise by election campaigns, meeting the hardened reality of finite resource.
    This coupled with most of the Debt welfare being moved from people to companies (buybacks, bailout, conventions, subsidies, etc), ensured future generations will be forced to crash hard on sustainment.

  4. @andyfire9334

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Im an immigrant in Australia and im just gonna say this!

    The western developed world has broken the balance when it promoted the evil feminist and individualist agenda masquerading it as human rights.

    Only in the west do you see the institutions and politics promote abortions and late pregnancy "chase your dreams". They attack the "Family" & "Gender roles" as if its cancer, fooling many younger generations.

    Then to solve the population decline they import incompatible cultures and people who dont want to assimilate only replace.

    Dont you see, they want you till kill your children "your mistake" then when there's not enough people they replace you.

    Just like how Roman republic was ruined from within the western world also follows the same. History repeats itself

  5. @kennygilberts4119

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    I am in the urban planning profession, and hearing kurzgesagt, one of my favorite educational media mention "millions of people immigrating to germany" as one of the reasons for the exorbitant house prices is disappointing. Germany, and a lot of countries in the west suffer from the same top-heavy wealth accumulation that has become such a huge problem in driving housing unaffordability around the world.

    Contemporary urban planning academic data on the topic point to the inherent paradox of real-estate as an investment for profit vs it's usage as a shelter that is required by everyone. And the matter of fact is, more and more, governments around the world have prioritized housing for profitable investments rather than it's actual value as a shelter, which should be a human right.

    the top 1% own 25% of all wealth in germany, with much of it tied to real estate. Blaming immigrants who barely make a living wage, and is commonly living in substandard housing, with majority of them renting rather than buying is questionable. You are repeating the hateful dogwhistle nationalistic rhetoric pushed by the top 1%. As an educational media, it's important that you guys do better.

  6. @mnico239

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Well let’s just cut pensions of those boomers who kept voting CDU/CSU…

    When they were kids new schools and youth amenities were built.
    when they went to university they voted for it to be cheap
    When they started working they voted for taxes to be cheap
    When they started earning higher wages they bought up all realestate
    When they started to retire they voted for higher pensions.

    I guess it’s time for the bill…

  7. @PitaoCozobi

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Migration cant solve problems with fertility. Algerian migrant will born algerian kid with muslim culture. Nothing deutch will preserve with such politics.

  8. @DingoHammer

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Every immigrant makes Germany less German. Its the same with any other country taking in immigrants. At some time in the future, every European country will look the same, so why have different countries?

  9. @amandawhatever

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Government is a ponzi scheme where the wealthy use the monopoly of force to extract wealth from the young. As long as politicians and bureaucrats are for sale, you can expect to be viewed as a "human resource" instead of as a "human being".

  10. @greedier-7661

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    …. why is this called germany is over? It could replace "germany" with dozens of countries based on subject of this video… and there are countries more fit for being in this tittle but I guess south korea was not catchy enough as it was already being shouted about population collapse 10 years ago…

  11. @nekomyura

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    Glad to see a video by Kurzgesagt on this topic. While known to many, it is still a great reminder of what the younger generations over so many countries are facing.

  12. @nicovolli

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    of you are driving too fast and to avoid an accident slow down too quickly which creates a problem of you sticking to the windshield, do you keep driving too fast to solve the problem?

  13. @Kafeiklys

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    If we think that our taxes going to old people is a problem then that is real problem, bad thinking, because thanks to those old folks we have our current state. Respect for the old workforce folks.

  14. @alexlaurent1018

    May 7, 2026 at 10:04 am

    "The entire western world seems to have a hard time finding any money to upkeep social systems and give young people the opportunity to start families"

    Meanwhile like 100 people hold a vast majority of the wealth. Gee, what could be the problem….

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