Hamburg tops Germany's Digitisation Index 2023

28 June 2023

Infrastructure, life, economy and administration examined

Hamburg has topped the Germany Digitisation Index 2023 published in June with 63.8 index points followed by Berlin, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. The nationwide index of digitization came to 51.5 points. The Competence Centre Public Information Technology at the Fraunhofer Fokus analysed data on mobile phone coverage and internet use. The biennial index also collects data on online administrative services and the number of new IT companies in each federal state.

Provision of fast transmission technologies and internet use

Households with a broadband transmission rate of at least 50 Mbit/s were to be found mainly in Hamburg (99 per cent) in 2022, while Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had the least at just over 80 per cent, according to the Federal Network Agency. In terms of gigabit connections, only 33.8 per cent of households in Saxony-Anhalt could be supplied with at least 1,000 Mbit/s compared to households in Hamburg (98.2 per cent). North Germany is the main beneficiary of fibre optics with the fastest internet supply: almost on a par with Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The south, e.g., Baden-Württemberg, lags behind with a connection of 10.9 per cent. Across Germany, at least 85 per cent of inhabitants use the internet. Smartphones and computers can be easily connected to a WLAN network. Most people stream videos via the internet. About half of the population watches several times a week, and the trend is rising. Depending on the federal state, 15 to 50 per cent of the working population also log on remotely several times a week.

Information and communications industry

More than every 26th branch office in Germany belongs to the information and communication sector. This comes to more than one in 15 across Berlin and Hamburg and the trend is rising. Both cities also have the most active IT start-up scenes nationwide. However, Berlin Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt are ahead in terms of start-up dynamics. Around 2.6 per cent of employees work in IT or the information and communications sector. The share is highest in Hamburg at 26 per cent. However, the number of vacancies is increasing faster than the number of employees in many federal states. Yet, the number of trainees and computer science students is not enough to relieve shortages on the labour market.

Over twice as many administrative services available online nationwide

Of five services examined, German municipalities offer on average between six and 100 per cent. Hamburg and Berlin lead the way as all five services can be applied for online. More than twice as many services are available online than in 2021 with municipalities in Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia making great progress. Nationwide, people rate the number of available online services higher than in 2021 and especially in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg. The view was not as positive in Berlin, Bavaria and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, where a large number of online services is available.

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