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PRESS RELEASE

2017 DENIC Domain Statistics: The Regional Distribution of .de Domains in 
Germany

Dear Sir or Madam,

You find them in agricultural regions and economic hotspots, in industrial 
parks as well as in nature reserves – domains with the German ending .de
are registered virtually everywhere in Germany 
(https://www.denic.de/en/whats-new/features/denic-regional-domain-statistics-2017/).
 Their precise
distribution is mapped every year in the annual regional domain statistics 
published by DENIC. The registry managing all domains with the ending .de
now presents the results of 2017. As of 31 December 2017, more than 15 
million .de domains were registered in 401 cities and districts of Germany.
Adding to these numbers are more than 1.2 domains of holders whose place of 
residence is abroad. In total, more than 16.3 million .de domains were
registered at the end of 2017. Domain development was moderate and confirmed 
the East-West divide of regional .de domain distribution within Germany.

Municipal Level: The Majority of .de Domains Is Registered in Metropolitan 
Regions
Looking at absolute domain numbers, one still finds three large cities in the 
top ranks. Scoring 1,010,140 registered domains, Berlin extends its lead
in the group of German cities. Munich (594,756) and Hamburg (577,127) 
consolidate their position on ranks two and three despite a slight drop in
domain registrations. When referring the number of .de domains to the number 
of inhabitants, last year's ranking of the top three also remains
unchanged. Osnabruck comes first again: With 1,498 .de domains per 1,000 
inhabitants, it still is far ahead of the other two top runners in the city
league, Munich (410) and Bonn (408). In regard to the administrative 
districts, Freising (443) in the Free State of Bavaria, a region in the South 
of
Germany, is the frontrunner again. Second for the first time is the district 
of Stormarn (433) near Hamburg, which has relegated last year's number
two, the district of Starnberg (404) to rank three. The national average has 
been established at 183 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants since 2015
(higher individual statistical values reflect local domain investors with 
larger-scale domain portfolios).

Regional Level: Domain Increase in the East of Germany Overtakes Domain 
Growth in the West
Consistency is also observed for the ranking on the federal-state level for 
the number of domains related to inhabitants. The state of Hamburg –
comprising the city of Hamburg and its wider outskirts – with 323 domains per 
1,000 inhabitants maintains its uncontested leading position and stays
far ahead of Berlin (287) and the state of Bavaria with its vast lands (206). 
As in the preceding year, the state of Saxony-Anhalt (84) brings up the
rear after the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia with 107 and 
108 domains per 1,000 inhabitants respectively. The national growth rate
(+1.05%) was above that of 2016 (+0.49%). For the first time ever, the 
average growth rate was exceeded by all federal states of the eastern part of
Germany in 2017. Looking at the complete German territory, nine federal 
states scored values level to or above the mean value, with Schleswig-Holstein
(+11.3%) and Brandenburg (+2.4%) in the lead. Negative growth was found only 
in West Germany in 2017, i.e. in Hamburg (-1.5%), Bremen (-0.8%) and
Saarland (-0.8%). Excluding Berlin (+0.3%), the average percentage domain 
growth among the states in the East of Germany (+1.6%) clearly exceeded that
of those in the West (+1.1%). Related to absolute numbers, the so-called Free 
State of Saxony with 532,049 registered .de domains achieved the highest
density among the federal states in the East of the country and was number 
ten in the overall German ranking. North Rhine-Westphalia (3,298,218
domains) and Bavaria (2,643,522 domains) remained on ranks one and two.

International level: Popularity of .de Is Increasing Also Beyond German 
Borders
The year-on-year total domain growth rate for 2016/2017 was 1.2 percent 
compared to 0.7 percent in 2015/2016. This is an increase by about 200,000 .de
domains (previous year: 105,000). Furthermore, the 16.03 million .de domains 
that were registered at the end of 2017 included 1,185,247 domains of
holders residing outside of Germany (2016: 1,146,500). This corresponds to 
7.3 percent of the total number of domains registered under .de. The
holders of .de domains originate from 217 countries. As in the past, German 
domains are particularly popular in the United States (28%), the
Netherlands (10%) and in the Russian Federation (7%). But Germany's European 
neighbours Switzerland, Austria and Great Britain as well as the United
Arab Emirates also account for 6 percent respectively of the .de domains with 
non-German-based holders. All in all, 16,314,502 domains were registered
with DENIC on 31 December 2017. Statistically, every fifth inhabitant of the 
Federal Republic of Germany has registered a domain under the TLD .de.
Thus, Germany consistently ranks fourth in the world after the Netherlands, 
Switzerland and Denmark.

Detailed online data available
You find comprehensive data and graphic material as well as the complete 
regional analysis in form of an Excel file for all the 401 cities and
districts in the statistics section of the DENIC website at 
https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/statistics/. We also make available the 
annual analyses
since 1995. In addition to absolute values, the statistics provide data on 
the number of domains related to the number of inhabitants, complemented by
maps and diagrams showing the absolute and the relative distribution of 
domestic domains as well as of domain holders residing outside of Germany.

If you have any queries or need additional information, please feel free to 
contact us.

Kind regards

Susanne Knauf-Hochvárt
Public Relations
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