2025 Annual Statistics .de

“The regional statistics clearly show that .de is not only the home of the German Internet – it is one of the most popular domains worldwide. This is no coincidence, but the result of reliability and trust built up over decades.”

Tom Keller
Member of DENIC's Executive Board

Highlight Facts

  • Growth is driven primarily by foreign markets
  • The federal state of Lower Saxony is the big winner in 2025
  • Hesse has made it into the top three federal states for the first time
  • Bavaria remains the top performer among the districts
  • Berlin, Hamburg and Munich dominate as major cities

 


The German country code .de continued to grow slightly in 2025, reaching a total of around 17.7 million .de domains worldwide by the end of the year.

The focus of .de is no longer solely on a German country code top-level domain – the trend is clearly moving towards an internationally used premium domain

Growth drivers are coming from abroad: by the end of 2025, almost 2.15 million .de domains will be registered by parties outside Germany. The total number of domains held by non-domestic domain holders rose by 3.3 per cent.

By the end of 2025, there were approximately 15.5 million domains registered across Germany’s 400 cities and districts.

Interesting fact: one in five people living in Germany has a .de domain.

Around 2.15 million .de domains are now held by people outside Germany.

Already 12.2% of all .de domains are registered abroad. This shows that .de is a strong brand internationally, particularly within the EU.

Explore our interactive Maps and Tables

Interactive Maps

Interaktive Karten zu .de-Domain-Statistiken

Tabular Analyses

Tabellarische Jahresstatistiken zu .de-Domains

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City comparison: The biggest domain strongholds

In terms of absolute domain numbers, the major cities continue to dominate.

With 929,612 .de domains, Berlin remains well ahead of Hamburg (627,674) and Munich (524,028), despite a slight decline.

Federal states: Hesse makes it into the top 3

In 2025, continuity also characterises the rankings of the federal states in terms of domain distribution per capita. With 329 domains per 1,000 inhabitants, Hamburg remains well ahead of Berlin (246). They are followed by Hesse (203) and Bavaria (201). Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia continue to occupy the bottom positions, with 109 domains each, and Saxony-Anhalt with 88 domains per 1,000 inhabitants.

Lower Saxony saw the strongest growth at +1.82%, followed by Brandenburg (+1.09%) and Saxony-Anhalt (+1.05%). This means that two eastern federal states are growing faster than the traditional digital hubs.

Overall, ten federal states are showing growth. The average percentage change in 2025 in the eastern federal states (-0.084%) is lower than that of the western federal states (+0.082%). In 2025, Lower Saxony is the federal state with the highest absolute growth (27,731), followed by Baden-Württemberg (15,381) and Rhineland-Palatinate (5,487).

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Growth abroad: Internationalisation is growing significantly

By the end of 2025, almost 2.15 million .de domains will be registered from outside Germany.

Year on year between 2024 and 2025, the total number of domains held by non-domestic domain holders rose by 3.3 per cent, corresponding to an increase of 69,400 .de domains.

The main driver of overall growth was foreign owners, who accounted for 12.2 per cent of domains at the end of the year.

Foreign owners of .de domains come from all over the world. German domains continue to be in highest demand in the USA (31.3 per cent) and the Netherlands (12 per cent). These are followed by Portugal (10.6%), Austria (7.7%) and Switzerland (4.8%).

.de is a strong brand internationally, particularly within the EU

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