Internet Addiction in Germany - The Enticement of Digital Entertainment Wanes Offline
In the year 2025, Germans are gravitating towards offline activities for their leisure time, according to the "Leisure Monitor 2025" study. Despite the prevalence of online activities such as watching TV, listening to music, gaming, or using smartphones, the experiences that Germans find most enjoyable and desirable during their free time are predominantly offline.
This preference for offline leisure stems from the value placed on balance—a balance between online and offline, activity and passivity, individuality and community. This balance, it seems, contributes significantly to overall leisure satisfaction.
Sports have seen a notable increase in popularity, with 51% of Germans reporting sports as a regular activity, compared to 31% in 2010. Eating out, shared activities with children, and going out with friends are also favoured activities.
Interestingly, smartphones, the internet, TV, and similar activities rank in the middle to lower range of the fun satisfaction ranking. Instead, Germans seem to find greater enjoyment and satisfaction in offline experiences such as meaningful conversations, spending time with partners, drinking coffee, eating cake, and simply relaxing.
The study also reveals that women and older adults tend to experience their leisure time as more emotional or positive compared to men and younger adults. The second-highest fun factor is physical intimacy, with 70% of respondents mentioning eroticism and sex.
Achieving a balance between online and offline activities is key to satisfaction in daily life. Hobbies are popular, followed by time in nature and with animals. Notably, more than half of Germans are physically active at least once a week, a significant increase from 2010.
Perhaps most importantly, Germans place a high value on spending time with their partners, with almost three-quarters preferring to do so. This emphasis on community and connection seems to be a significant factor in the preference for offline leisure activities.
In essence, offline leisure is preferred because it offers a more fulfilling and emotionally positive experience, contributing to greater satisfaction in everyday life than online activities alone. The "Leisure Monitor 2025" study provides valuable insights into the leisure preferences of Germans, offering a glimpse into the cultural values and priorities that shape their leisure time.
- Technology might not be as dominant in people's leisure activities as one might expect, given the widespread use of smartphones and the internet, as a general news report on German lifestyle preferences reveals a preference for offline experiences such as eating cake, having meaningful conversations, and relaxing, which rank higher in fun satisfaction.
- In contrast to the prevalence of home-and-garden activities being mostly associated with passive hobbies, the study on German leisure activities shows that sports have seen a noteworthy increase in popularity, with 51% of Germans participating regularly, demonstrating a notable shift towards active offline pursuits.
- Despite the decrease in online entertainment activities like gaming or listening to music, relationships and general interactions maintain a significant role in Germans' leisure lifestyle, with physical intimacy coming in as the second-highest fun factor, and a strong emphasis on community and connections, particularly spending time with partners, as the study suggests.
