DENIC domain statistics 2010: City of Coburg records largest percentage increase in domains for the first time – Administrative district of Amberg-Sulzbach remains domain quota leader – Leipzig proves most dynamic metropolis for registrations

(Nearly) everything unchanged at the top as regards the cities and administrative districts with the largest numbers of domains per capita in Germany: With 591 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants, the city of Osnabrück effortless holds its leading position among incorporated German cities. Thus, it could further increase its head start over Munich (432) and Bonn (393), again ranking second and third as in the preceding years. Among the administrative districts, Amberg-Sulzbach (715) still is first, preceding Freising (399) and Starnberg (357); all of them made a great leap forward in domain numbers. On the federal-state level, the city state of Hamburg remains the uncontested number one with 286 domains per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Berlin with 229 domains. The third place in the leading trio goes to the territorial state of Bavaria (193), while Saxony-Anhalt still brings up the rear with only 68 domains per 1,000 inhabitants. This is the result of the 2010 annual regional domain statistics implemented by the German registry DENIC, which covers 412 cities and administrative districts.

Compared to 2009/2010, the federal average increase rate of domains was 6.4 percent compared to 7.1 percent in 2008/2009, which corresponds to a growth of about 775,000 (770,000 in the preceding year) to about 12,810,000 .de domains at the end of 2010. This number is supplemented by more than 800,000 domains with holders residing abroad, which accounts for about 5.8 percent of the total .de domain inventory.

Regional Comparison: West-East Slope Persisting

As in the preceding years, the overall figures display a pronounced difference between domain usage in the cities and administrative districts of the old and the new federal states, even though it has slightly decreased. Despite two-digit growth rates, Leipzig (243) and Potsdam (203) are the only East German cities that exceed the federal average of 157 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants besides Berlin with 229 domains per 1,000 inhabitants. The domain strongholds still are the West German metropolitan regions including the conurbations of Munich and Hamburg, the area along the Rhine, the Hannover region and the Rhine-Main Area. Ranking 10 and 18 with regard to absolute domain figures, the Saxon major centers of Leipzig and Dresden now have firmly established themselves in the top league. Middle Saxony and the Ore Mountains area are also gaining major ground.

Federal-state Comparison: Saxony Defending Pole Position

The latest growth rates on federal-state level again confirm the general upward trend from the Baltic Sea to the Ore Mountains: All relevant East German regions including Berlin are among the top ten of the fastest growing domain regions and record figures that are level with or even exceeding the federal average of 6.4 percent. Saxony still is leading with a plus of 10.4 percent compared to the previous year, followed by Bavaria with 8.5 percent and Schleswig-Holstein with 8.3 percent. Hesse had to put up with the rear in 2010. Scoring a plus of merely 3.6 percent it replaced last year's taillight Hamburg.

Related to the number of inhabitants, however, Hamburg remains the undisputed number one with 286 domains per 1,000 inhabitants. It is followed by the federal state of Berlin with 229 domains per 1,000 inhabitants. Other areas that record domain numbers per capita above the federal average of 157 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants are the federal states with large area and low population density Bavaria (193), Hesse (171) and North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein (161 respectively). Relatively speaking, Saxony-Anhalt with only 68 domains per 1,000 inhabitants still has the smallest number of .de domains.

Statistically, about every sixth inhabitant of the Federal Republic of Germany has registered a domain (15.7 percent compared to 14.7 in the previous year). With that figure, Germany still ranks fourth in Europe after The Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.

Municipal Comparison: Metropolises still Leading – Coburg Outperforms Ansbach among Booming Municipalities

The highest growth rate in this league was achieved by the incorporated city of Coburg with 130 percent, followed by Ansbach with 67 percent. Place three is shared by last year's leader – the administrative district of Amberg-Sulzbach – and Memmingen, both scoring about 50 percent. Place four goes to the Vulkaneifel area with 39.7 percent, followed by the district of Starnberg with 34.6 percent. Two-digit increase rates for local domains were reported by 48 administrative districts and communities (compared to 82 in the previous year). 15 (2009: 22) of them even achieved growth rates of more than 20 percent.

As regards absolute domain figures, the ranking among the leading trio of the last few years remains unchanged: While Berlin clearly defended its leading position in the overall ranking with about 787,000 domains (plus 7.2 percent), Munich further strengthened its lead compared to Hamburg. Recording about 575,000 domains (this is an increase of 12.3 percent) the Bavarian metropolis once again left the Hanseatic city with its roughly 507,000 registered domains far behind. Growth in the city at the Elbe, however, also gained momentum with 5.2 percent compared to 1.1 percent in the previous year. The boom town among the large cities is Leipzig: The shooting star of the East scored the skyrocketing result of a 24.8 percent increase within one year, the number of domains increasing from 100,376 to 126,106.

International Level: Switzerland Surpassing Emirates as Non-Resident DE Domain Holders

Popularity of .de domains outside of Germany remains high. At the end of 2010, more than 800,000 domain holders - thus accounting for just under 5.8 percent – resided outside of Germany. For the first time, Switzerland came first among the countries of origin. With more than 100,000 domains it outscored Great Britain, the USA and even the former number one, the Arabian Emirates, now number four. All three countries recorded just over 80,000 domains respectively.

All figures are based on an analysis of the domain database of the German registry DENIC as of 31 December 2010. They continue the regional domain statistics, which have been compiled by DENIC each year since 1995.

You will find the complete analysis as an Excel file in the statistics section of the DENIC website for downloading. It includes information on all administrative districts and incorporated cities. In addition to absolute values, the statistics also provide data on the number of domains related to the number of inhabitants as well as maps and diagrams showing the absolute and the relative distribution of the German domains and of the domain holders from abroad.
 

About DENIC eG

As the central registry, DENIC administers the now more than 14 million domains under the Top Level Domain .de and thus provides a crucial resource for users of the Internet. It sees its role as that of a competent, impartial provider of services for all domain holders and Internet users. With more than 120 employees, DENIC creates the foundation through its work for German Internet pages and e-mail ad-dresses to be accessible throughout the world. The about 270 members of the Cooperative are IT or telecommunications businesses based in Germany and elsewhere. Working in cooperation with them and other partners, DENIC is committed to guarantee the secure operation of the Internet and its further worldwide development as a not-for-profit organization.

It operates the automatic electronic registration system for its members, runs the domain database for the Top Level Domain .de and the German ENUM domain (.9.4.e164.arpa), manages the name server services for the .de zone at currently 15 locations distributed throughout the world, and renders a con-siderable contribution to the further organizational and technical development of the Internet in coopera-tion with international bodies (e.g. ICANN, CENTR, IETF).

For further information please contact:

DENIC eG
Public Relations
Fon: +49 69 27235-274
E-Mail: mailto:presse@denic.de