[Mortality of foreign and indigenous population in the German Federal Republic]

Comparative mortality studies with respect to nationality have not yet been published in a comprehensive way for the Federal Republic of Germany. A recent special analysis of causes of death for German mortality statistics of the year 1986 indicates a lower mortality risk among the migrant compared to the indigenous population. Apart from potential biases, such as underreporting of nationality of death cases or overestimation of the size of the non-indigenous population in Germany, from the perspective of socio-epidemiology the possibility arises that selection processes lastingly affect the mortality risk of migrants. The dependence of the length of stay from the quality of the state of health or rather a plausible increased likelihood of remigration in case of chronic disease may constitute important influences, which could explain the differences in mortality between indigenous and migrant population.