Germany · state
Rhineland-Palatinate population 2026
Rheinland-Pfalz
Rhineland-Palatinate has 4,129,569 people on the latest official figure, for 1 January 2025, 4,406 more than a year earlier (+0.11%). It is 6th of Germany’s 16 states by population, home to 4.9% of Germany’s people.
If last year’s change continues: about 4.1 million by 1 July 2026. That is our arithmetic, not an official figure.
Rhineland-Palatinate in numbers
- Population
- 4.1 million 1 January 2025
- Change in a year
- +0.11% +4,406 people
- Change since 2020
- +0.87% from 4.1 million
- Share of Germany
- 4.9% 6th of 16 states
- Population density
- 208per km² 19,853 km²
That is about as many people as Croatia (3.8 million).
Population of Rhineland-Palatinate by year
› Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 3,990,033 |
| 2014 | 3,994,366 |
| 2015 | 4,011,582 |
| 2016 | 4,052,803 |
| 2017 | 4,066,053 |
| 2018 | 4,073,679 |
| 2019 | 4,084,844 |
| 2020 | 4,093,903 |
| 2021 | 4,098,391 |
| 2022 | 4,106,485 |
| 2023 | 4,108,555 |
| 2024 | 4,125,163 |
| 2025 | 4,129,569 |
| Year | Population | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4,129,569 | +4,406 | +0.11% |
| 2024 | 4,125,163 | +16,608 | +0.40% |
| 2023 | 4,108,555 | +2,070 | +0.05% |
| 2022 | 4,106,485 | +8,094 | +0.20% |
| 2021 | 4,098,391 | +4,488 | +0.11% |
| 2020 | 4,093,903 | +9,059 | +0.22% |
| 2019 | 4,084,844 | +11,165 | +0.27% |
| 2018 | 4,073,679 | +7,626 | +0.19% |
| 2017 | 4,066,053 | +13,250 | +0.33% |
| 2016 | 4,052,803 | +41,221 | +1.03% |
| 2015 | 4,011,582 | +17,216 | +0.43% |
| 2014 | 3,994,366 | – | – |
| 2012 | 3,990,033 | – | – |
Rhineland-Palatinate among Germany’s states
Full ranking →| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Rhine-Westphalia | 18,034,454 | +0.09% | 21.6% | 529 |
| 2 | Bavaria | 13,248,928 | +0.55% | 15.9% | 188 |
| 3 | Baden-Württemberg | 11,245,898 | +0.14% | 13.5% | 315 |
| 4 | Lower Saxony | 8,004,489 | −0.05% | 9.6% | 168 |
| 5 | Hesse | 6,280,793 | +0.21% | 7.5% | 298 |
| 6 | Rhineland-Palatinate | 4,129,569 | +0.11% | 4.9% | 208 |
| 7 | Saxony | 4,042,422 | −0.30% | 4.8% | 220 |
| 8 | Berlin | 3,685,265 | +0.63% | 4.4% | 4,136 |
| 9 | Schleswig-Holstein | 2,959,517 | +0.21% | 3.5% | 187 |
| 10 | Brandenburg | 2,556,747 | +0.09% | 3.1% | 87 |
| 11 | Saxony-Anhalt | 2,135,597 | −0.42% | 2.6% | 104 |
| 12 | Thuringia | 2,100,277 | −0.69% | 2.5% | 130 |
| 13 | Hamburg | 1,862,565 | +0.59% | 2.2% | 2,467 |
| 14 | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 1,573,597 | −0.28% | 1.9% | 68 |
| 15 | Saarland | 1,012,141 | −0.19% | 1.2% | 394 |
| 16 | Bremen | 704,881 | +0.32% | 0.8% | 1,681 |
Largest cities in Rhineland-Palatinate
City proper, not the wider metro area; latest figure in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), so years differ.
- Mainz222,889
- Ludwigshafen am Rhein163,196
- Koblenz107,319
- Trier100,129
- Kaiserslautern98,732
- Worms81,099
Questions
What is the population of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2026?
Is Rhineland-Palatinate’s population growing or shrinking?
How does Rhineland-Palatinate rank in Germany?
What is the population density of Rhineland-Palatinate?
What is the largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate?
Source and method
Eurostat, population on 1 January by NUTS region (demo_r_d2jan). Eurostat reuse policy (CC BY 4.0). Total area, Wikidata. Eurostat updates regional populations once a year. Ranks, shares and changes are our arithmetic on the published figures. National figures can differ from the UN’s projection for Germany, which uses a different method. The 2026 figure above carries last year’s change forward; it does not come from the source.
Cite this page: Rhineland-Palatinate population, Eurostat, 1 January 2025. GlobeMetrics, https://globemetrics.org/world-population/germany/rhineland-palatinate/
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