"In 2008, a total of 1,032 people originating from the Republic of Croatia acquired the German citizenship, and in 2009 this figure was 542," the statistical office spokesman Guenter Brueckner told Hina last Wednesday.
For instance in 2001, immediately after the adoption of more liberal legislation on the naturalisation in Germany, 3,931 people originating from Croatia were given German citizenship.
The statistics on this matter have been on steady decline since 2006 when 1,729 Croatians were naturalised in Germany. In 2007 the naturalisation statistics fell to 1,224 and to 1,032 in 2008.
The spokesman ascribed this trend to the prospective admission of Croatia to the European Union.
"A great majority of European Union members have agreements with Germany enabling their citizens to retain their original citizenship when they obtain German citizenship. I think that many Croats in Germany are waiting for this to happen also with Croatia," Brueckner said.
Germany allows dual citizenship only in exceptional cases.
The German opposition in the Bundestag criticises this restriction.
In 2009, a total of 96,100 foreigners obtained German citizenship, in contrast to the average annual number of 140,000 naturalised Germans in the past.