The media also determines the free time of many people

In their free time most Germans like to spend time on the Internet. More than half of the most popular leisure activities are related to media use, shows Vacation Monitor 2024. Compared to ten years ago, Germans are significantly more likely to use cell phones, the Internet, social media or video games.

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For the study, the Foundation for Future Questions surveyed 3,000 people aged 18 and over in July and August. 96 percent said they use the Internet at least once a week in their free time. 84 percent watch TV weekly, 82 percent listen to music and 78 percent use a computer, laptop or tablet. 77 percent said they played, surfed or chatted on their smartphone. 76 percent also said they read or wrote emails at least once a week as a regular leisure activity in their free time, followed by 70 percent listening to the radio. This means that twelve of the 22 most common leisure activities are related to media use.

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Media activity is increasingly taking place during leisure time

This proportion has increased tremendously compared to 2014. Ten years ago, 27 percent said they played, surfed or chatted on their cell phone at least once a week, but this year the figure was 78 percent. Social media has also seen huge growth over the past few years: here the share rose by 29 percentage points, while on the Internet it was 22 percentage points higher. The frequency of video games as a leisure activity has also increased: in 2014, ten percent played once a week or more in their spare time; this year it was 31 percent;

However, the activities that Germans would like to do more of in their free time only include a few media activities. “You would think that the points that many people already say over and over again are represented there, so that they would like to do them more,” said Ulrich Reinhardt, scientific director of the Batt Foundation for Future Questions, which publishes the leisure monitor. Several points are at the top of the list: 73 percent would like to sleep more often, do whatever they feel like doing spontaneously, spend time in nature or do something for their health. Compared to ten years, the points that increased particularly were listening to music (from 25 to 50 percent), working with animals (from 18 to 43 percent), going on walks (from 43 to 66 percent) and doing art (from 15 to 37 percent).

The Foundation for the Future has been surveying a total of 106 leisure activities since 1986. The questions were asked online, which increased the validity of the study because people were more likely to answer these types of questions honestly online than in face-to-face interviews. The Foundation nevertheless conducts analog comparative studies, which yield similar results with only a one to two percent error rate.

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