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PRESS RELEASE

2018 DENIC Domain Statistics: The Regional Distribution of .de Domains in 
Germany

Dear Sir or Madam,

Every year, the precise geographic distribution of .de domains is mapped in 
the annual regional domain statistics published by DENIC. The registry
managing all domains with the ending .de now presents the results of 2018 (
https://www.denic.de/en/whats-new/press-releases/article/denic-domain-map-2018/).
 As of 31 December 2018, nearly 15 million .de domains were
registered in the 401 cities and districts of Germany. Adding to these 
numbers are more than 1.2 million domains of holders whose place of residence
is abroad. In total, more than 16.2 million .de domains were registered at 
the end of 2018. For the first time since .de domains were launched in
1986, the total number of registrations in Germany displayed a slightly 
downward trend. The number of .de domains with holders resident outside
Germany, in contrast, continued to rise in 2018.

Municipal Level: Urban .de Domain Registration Clearly Exceeds Numbers in 
Rural Areas
Looking at absolute domain numbers, the top ranks among German cities 
continued to be held by the metropolitan places: Scoring 1,006,388 .de 
domains,
Berlin stays clearly in the lead, far ahead of Munich (623,494) and Hamburg 
(577,127) on ranks two and three. When referring the number of .de domains
to the number of inhabitants, last year's ranking of the top three in that 
group also remains unchanged. Osnabruck comes first again: With 1,509 .de
domains per 1,000 inhabitants, it still is far ahead of the other two top 
runners in the city league, Munich (426) and Bonn (388). In regard to the
administrative districts, the frontrunners are located in the South of 
Germany again, namely Bavaria: Freising (435 domains) remains the uncontested
number one, preceding the districts of Starnberg (398) and Munich (366). The 
national average is 180 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants (higher
individual statistical values reflect local domain investors with 
larger-scale domain portfolios). About one quarter of the cities and districts
included in the analysis exceed the average value, whereby the number of 
cities (53) with above-average values is considerably higher than the number
of districts (42).

Regional Level: West German Year-on-Year Domain Development Outscores East 
German Domain Evolution
The ranking on the federal-state level for the number of domains related to 
inhabitants also showed consistency in 2018. The state of Hamburg –
comprising the city of Hamburg and its wider outskirts – with 315 domains per 
1,000 inhabitants maintains its uncontested leading position and stays
far ahead of Berlin (282) and the state of Bavaria with its vast lands (205). 
As in the preceding year, the state of Saxony-Anhalt (82) brings up the
rear after the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia with 106 and 
108 domains per 1,000 inhabitants respectively. Moderate domain growth was
recorded in the South of Germany with increases of 0.4 percent for Bavaria, 
0.3 percent for Hesse and 0.1 percent for Baden-Württemberg. For the first
time ever, the overall national growth rate (-0.9%) fell short of last year's 
result (2017: +1.05%). The most pronounced deviations from the average
value were recorded for Schleswig-Holstein (-9.1%), Sachsen-Anhalt (-2.0%) 
and Lower Saxony (-1.6%). Excluding Berlin (-0.4%), the average percentage
domain growth among the states in the West of Germany (-0.9%) is slightly 
higher than that of those in the East (-1.1%). Related to absolute numbers,
the so-called Free State of Saxony with 527,960 registered .de domains 
achieved the highest density among the federal states in the East of the
country and scored ten again in the overall German ranking. North 
Rhine-Westphalia (3,262,603 domains) and Bavaria (2,653,459 domains) remain 
on ranks
one and two.

International level: Popularity of .de Beyond German Borders Continuously on 
the Rise
Compared on an annual level, the overall number of .de domains under 
management decreased slightly by 0.7 percent compared to a 1.2-percent 
increase
in 2016/2017. This is a decline of 110,000 .de domains (previous year: plus 
200,000 domains).  The 16.2 million .de domains that were registered at
the end of 2018 included 1,225,965 domains of holders residing outside of 
Germany (2017: 1,185,247). Contrary to the development of .de domains
registered by holders residing in Germany, the number of domains with holders 
from abroad increased by 3.4 percent and accounted for 7.6 percent of
all .de domains at the end of 2018. The holders of .de domains originate from 
219 countries. As in the past, German domains are particularly popular
in the United States (27%), the Netherlands (10%) and in the Russian 
Federation (7%). But Germany's European neighbours Switzerland, Austria and 
Great
Britain, and also the United Arab Emirates account for 6 percent respectively 
of the .de domains with non-German-based holders, too. All in all,
16,204,745 domains were registered with DENIC on 31 December 2018. 
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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