En raison des problèmes économiques, la population a diminué de plus de 6% (moins 162 000 habitants) depuis 1990, tombant à 2,45 millions d'habitants en 1999.
The unemployment rate, which reached 16.5% in 1999, is the lowest of the new Länder (average for eastern Germany: 19%), but still far over the German average (11.75%). As a consequence of the economic problems, the population has fallen since 1990 by more than 6% (minus 162,000 inhabitants), falling to 2.45 million in 1999.