* Varying Definitions: "Native speaker" can be interpreted differently. Does it include people who grew up speaking German as their first language but live elsewhere?
* Migration: German speakers live all over the world, and many have migrated to other countries.
* Language Diversity: Germany itself has regional dialects and variations within the German language.
However, we can look at some statistics:
* Germany: Roughly 78 million people in Germany speak German as their native language.
* Worldwide: There are an estimated 130 million native German speakers globally.
Keep in mind these figures are estimates and can fluctuate based on factors like migration and language acquisition.