New Study Says More Germans Going Online

The Internet is a playground, a marketplace and, above all, a forum for communication. It has also become a useful indicator for gauging a country’s economy, which is why many politicians and businesses in Germany are interested in finding out just how many Germans are online.

Every year, “Initiative 21” -- an association of over 200 businesses, research institutes and unions -- releases its report on Germany’s level of Internet use. This year’s so called “Onliner Atlas” report came out Tuesday with some encouraging news.

German Internet use average but increasing

Germany is catching up in Internet use. According to the latest Onliner Atlas, 58 percent of Germans surf the Internet regularly, an increase of three percent over last year.

This still puts Germany behind technology-savvy countries like the United States. But within Europe, Germany is in the middle and improving.

“On top we traditionally have the Nordic countries, as well as the Netherlands. Germany is comparable to Great Britain and France,” said Hartmut Scheffler, manager of TNS Infratest, the company that surveyed over 50,000 Germans for the Onliner Atlas report.

"In Southern Europe we have, at the moment, much smaller figures," he said.

Some 23 percent are off-line

Why are some people more inclined than others to surf the Net? Scheffler says work place, affluence, location and age are all factors that influence whether someone is likely to connect to the Internet or not.

Around 23 percent of Germans have no contact with the Internet, according to the report, and no intention of getting online any time soon. These so called "off-liners" typically come from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Also, women in Germany tend use the Internet less than German males.

The gender discrepancy is narrowing, but currently only 50 percent of women are regular Internet users, compared to 65 percent of men. Hartmut Scheffler said this is probably because fewer women are exposed to the Internet at work.

One of the groups that had the biggest surge in Internet activity in Germany was the 50-plus age group, which Hartmut Scheffler attributed to a lower starting point. Only one in three Germans over the age of 60 uses the Internet regularly, compared to around 90 percent of those under 29.