DENIC domain statistics 2007: Berlin accounts for greatest percentage increase in domains – Regensburg replaces Munich as domain leader – West-East slope in domain registrations

With 380 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants, Regensburg has scored the first place among German cities and administrative districts. This is the result of the 2007 annual regional domain statistics implemented by the German registry DENIC. Munich with 317 domains per 1,000 inhabitants must put up with the sec-ond place this time. On the federal-state level, Berlin (plus 10.3 percent), Hesse (plus 9.8 percent) and Bavaria (plus 9.6 percent) scored the highest growth rates in domain numbers. Then follows Thuringia as the federal state with the best result in the eastern part of Germany, with an increase of 8.8 percent. All in all, you can still perceive a pronounced difference between domain usage in the old and the new federal states. In the East, there are not even first signs of the federal average of 123 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants being reached on federal-state level. Except for Berlin, the domain strongholds are located nearly exclusively in West German conurbations like Munich, Hamburg, the Rhine-Main Area and the Rhineland. Compared to the previous year, the federal average increase rate of domains was six percent, which corresponds to a growth of about 600,000 to now approximately 10.2 million domains. On top of that there are 840,000 domains for holders with residence abroad.

Results on Federal-State Level

Related to the population, the Hanseatic City of Hamburg with its 236 domains per 1,000 inhabitants is far ahead. Hesse leads the group of federal states with large area and low population density with 148 do-mains per 1,000 inhabitants. Relatively speaking, Saxonia-Anhalt with its 54 domains per 1,000 inhabi-tants has the least .de domains. From a statistical point of view, every 8th inhabitant of the Federal Re-public of Germany has registered a .de domain. With that figure, Germany holds the third rank in Europe after The Netherlands and Denmark.

Results on City and Administrative-District Level

The highest growth rates were achieved by Wismar with 223 percent and Görlitz with 183 percent. Place three holds Regensburg with 68 percent; with 380 .de domains per 1,000 inhabitants it now is the city with the most domains in Germany. Then follow Munich (317), Nuremberg (298) and Frankfurt am Main (296).

In absolute numbers, the leading trio of the previous years still holds the top ranks. The first place is oc-cupied by Berlin with approximately 604,000 domains (plus 10.3 percent), preceding Hamburg with 414,000 domains (an increase of 7.3 percent) and Munich, which closely follows the Hanseatic City with 410,000 entries (a growth of 15.3 percent).

Foreign Domain Holders

But .de domains are not only popular in Germany. An increasing number of domain holders resides out-side of Germany. After 160,000 domains in 2005 and more than 580,000 in 2006, the number of .de do-mains with foreign holders had already increased to 840,000 by the end of 2007. In the annual compari-son, this means a growth rate of approximately 50%. The first rank among the countries of origin is occu-pied by the United Arab Emirates. Here you find some holders with large portfolios of several ten thou-sand domains, which are probably established for trade purposes. Then follow the USA and Switzerland.

All figures are based on an analysis of the domain database of the German registry DENIC as of 31 De-cember 2007 and are a continuation of the regional domain statistics, which have been compiled by DENIC since 2000 in cooperation with the working group of Professor Dr. Rolf Sternberg at the Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography of Hanover University.