A German official says the government expects some 250,000-300,000 refugees to arrive in 2016.
Frank-Juergen Weise, the chief of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), made his comments in an interview published in Bild am Sonntag on August 28.
The term "refugee" in German is usually used to refer to both accepted refugees and migrants who are seeking refugee status.
Weise also said Germany took in fewer migrants -- most of whom came from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan -- last year than previously thought because some were mistakenly registered twice and others had since left Germany.
Weise said fewer than 1 million refugees came to Germany last year, far less than the 1.1 million people who were reported to have come to the country in 2015.
Weise said some 70 percent of the migrants who came were fit for employment when they arrived but said many will have to rely on state social assistance until they are able to secure jobs.
He added that it would take time to fully integrate the large number of refugees.