• 9 out of 10 households are connected to the Internet
• Bandwidths between 30 and 100 Mbit/s are used most frequently

Not all German households still use an internet connection. At the end of 2023, around 9 out of 10 households (89 per cent) were connected to the internet. The average cost of internet access amounts to EUR 42 per month – this sum also includes the cost of so-called bundled products, which include other services such as flat rates for telephony or digital television. This is the result of a representative survey of 1,134 households in Germany, which was conducted on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. Five years ago, only 83 per cent of households had an internet connection, with monthly costs averaging EUR 34 in 2018.

The bandwidths used, i.e. the internet speed booked by households, have also increased significantly during this period: only 21 per cent now use an internet speed of less than 30 Mbit/s. Three times as many (63 per cent) have booked a speed of between 31 and 100 Mbit/s. Five years ago, the ratio was almost reversed: in 2018, 63 per cent of households had booked a slower connection with up to 32 Mbit/s and only 27 per cent a faster speed. Top speeds of more than 100 Mbit/s were practically not used at all back then. In 2023, 4 per cent of households have booked an internet speed of more than 100 Mbit/s with up to 1000 Mbit/s.

“Almost 500,000 kilometres of fibre optic lines have now been laid in Germany. Network expansion is progressing very well. Across all technologies, more than 73 per cent of households currently have access to gigabit connections at 1000 Mbit/s,” says Bitkom CEO Dr Bernhard Rohleder. “In the years 2022 to 2025, network operators plan to invest a total of around 50 billion euros in the expansion of fibre optic networks.”

In this context, Bitkom is calling for the state gigabit subsidy to be limited to one billion euros per year from 2024 to 2026. “This would relieve the federal budget by a total of six billion euros without slowing down the expansion,” emphasises Rohleder. Too much state funding would tie up the already scarce construction and planning capacities in subsidised projects, which would then no longer be available for the faster expansion of the private sector.

Methodological note: The data is based on a survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. This involved a telephone survey of 1,134 people in Germany aged 18 and over. The survey took place from week 39 to week 43. The overall survey is representative. The questions were: “Does your household have its own Internet connection at your main place of residence?”, “What is the Internet speed in your household according to your contract?” and “What are the total monthly costs for Internet access in your household? Please only enter the total costs excluding mobile phone tariffs. If you use a bundled product, please enter this price.”