Information on Integration: Administrative Offerings & Immigrant Engagement —An Explorative Large-N Analysis of the 'Integreat' Platform in Germany

Abstract

Which topics do local administrations focus on when providing refugees and other immigrants with information about their first steps after arrival – and how well are they received? These questions are particularly important in federal systems, where regions bear significant responsibility for integration efforts, despite limited resources and a complex network of offices to navigate. This study explores “Integreat”, Germany’s largest multilingual information platform designed to facilitate integration at the district and city levels. Using the platform’s full website visit history from 2018–2024, it analyzes several million records from 100+ participating regions. Results document significant differences in the thematic focus across districts. While some topics, such as work and training, are widely available, others are much less frequently covered. Multivariate analyses comparing topic availability and the likelihood of visiting related pages reveal several key insights. Pages offering immediate practical value (opening hours; mobility) are highly visited when available, yet absent in many districts. Topics related to acquiring essential skills or knowledge (e.g., language learning) show intense engagement relative to supply and users readily navigate detailed pages to access them. Finally, engagement differs across translations (e.g., Arabic, Ukrainian) for given topic availability, reflecting the diverse needs of different immigrant groups. The work concludes by deriving implications for administrative practice and noting the potential of these data for further descriptive and inferential research on refugee and immigrant integration.