Separate the exam answer from a dated statistic.
A population figure changes through births, deaths and migration in both directions. Publication also follows the reference date. The release date of 7 July 2026 therefore does not turn the March figure into a count for July or for today.
The Federal Statistical Office gives about 83.5 million for the end of 2025 and about 83.4 million for the end of March 2026. Their difference alone is not a contradiction: they refer to different dates. The catalogue choice remains a separate matter.
The other three answers
The three alternatives match neither the catalogue answer nor the retrieved order of magnitude as well.
70 million
70 million is well below the retrieved total population. The question concerns all inhabitants, not only a group selected by nationality.
78 million
78 million is also substantially below the dated official figures. It is not the answer specified in the existing catalogue.
90 million
90 million is substantially above the figures retrieved here. A possible future projection would also be different from a population count for a past reference date.
Here, 84 million is a choice, not the correct rounding of 83.4.
Rounded to the nearest whole million, 83.4 million becomes 83 million. That figure is not offered in the quiz. Saying “84 is closest among these four options” is therefore more accurate than claiming that 83.4 rounds to 84.
Population is not the same as the number of eligible voters or German nationals. Children and people without German nationality are also part of the population. For a current factual question outside the test, check a newer official release with the appropriate reference date.
Population on 31 March 2026 · Federal Statistical Office ↗For this quiz, 84 million; for statistics, always figure plus reference date.
Remember the catalogue answer and its limits. The answer remains clear without presenting a changing figure as permanently exact.
Three words for this question
- der Stichtagreference date
- The date to which a statistical figure refers.
- die Bevölkerungpopulation
- The total set of inhabitants included in the count.
- die Größenordnungorder of magnitude
- The approximate scale of a number, not its exact final digit.