According to official statistics, violent crime rose by 10 percent between 2015 and 2016.
And a government-sponsored study published today showed more than 90 percent of that increase was down to young male refugees aged 14 to 30.
Migration was a key factor in the German election, which saw Angela Merkel’s party plunge in popularity and gave a boost to the far-right.
The issue rose to the top of the political agenda as more than a million people arrived in the country from 2015 as the migrant crisis hit.
And it has has continued to cause problems for the German Chancellor, hampering her attempts to build a coalition.
Christian Pfeiffer, a criminology expert and one of the study researchers, told Deutschlandfunk radio there were huge differences between various refugee groups.
He said the link with crime depended on where they came from and how high their chances were of staying and gaining legal status in Germany.
Asylum seekers regarded as war refugees, such as Syrians, have relatively good chances of staying in Germany and tend to avoid trouble more, the study found.
Around 17 percent of violent crimes in Lower Saxony that were attributed to refugees were suspected of being committed by North African asylum seekers who made up less than 1 percent of the state’s registered refugee population.
North African asylum seekers have relatively slim chances of obtaining legal status in Germany.
He said: “The situation is completely different for those who find out as soon as they arrive that they are totally undesirable here.
“No chance of working, of staying here.”
The study said reuniting refugees with their families by allowing them to come to Germany too could help to reduce violence.
Such reunions look set to be a particularly contentious issue in talks about a new coalition government.
The predominantly young male majority of refugees live in Germany without partners, mothers, sisters or other females who the study see as a “violence-preventing, civilising force.”
Today’s study came as Mrs Merkel finally seemed to have made some progress in her long-running attempt to form a functioning coalition.
Her CDU party and potential partner the Social Democrats today announced they will hold exploratory talks on forming a government.
They said in a joint statement that “confidence has risen and we are making an optimistic start”.
The talks, a preliminary to full-blown coalition negotiations, are due to start on January 7 and continue for four days.