The average decrease of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately 1.68% p. a, which is faster than in bordering rural regions. Suburbanization played only a small role in Suhl. It occurred after the reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders. During the 1990s and the 2000s, many inhabitants left Suhl to search a better life in west Germany or other major east German cities like Erfurt, Jena or Leipzig. The birth deficit, caused by the high average age of the population, is getting a bigger problem because there is no immigration to compensate it yet. Urban planning activities to tear down unused flats led to a relatively low vacancy rate of 8% (according to 2011 EU census), compared with a loss in population of more than 35% since 1988.