Germans are becoming more and more fearful of future, a new study shows, amid rising threats related to terrorism and an exodus of refugees hitting the country’s borders.

The results of a poll published on Wednesday showed that 55 percent of Germans were worried about the future, a relatively sharp increase from similar surveys over the past two years.

Officials in British American Tobacco’s Foundation for Future Studies, the body conducting the study, said the new results may suggest that Germans are again re-embracing their famous Angst, which characterized them as the people of worry and their country as the nation of worriers.

The increasing fear may be directly linked to an influx of refugees arriving in Germany with estimates showing that more than a million are expected for this year and even more would arrive in 2016. Officials have repeatedly warned that Europe’s largest economy may become unable to cope with the rising flow as more and more people escaping from war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa choose Germany as their main destination.

The flow of refugees have widened the rift in Germany over the presence of foreigners with some urging the government to block more arrivals as they could 'pose more security threats' to the country in future.

Germans have also become concerned about new security threats in Europe which they attribute to refugees. A series of shootings and explosions in the French capital of Paris on November 13, which killed 130 people, have also added to the public concerns.