Eight per cent of Germans write a diary regularly - i.e. at least once a week. As many as three per cent even put their thoughts on paper every day. Since 2020, the attractiveness of this leisure activity has increased by three percentage points (2020: 5%). Diary writing is particularly popular among the under-30s and is therefore practised twice as often.

Social media has become an integral part of life for many Germans. Currently, more than two-thirds of Germans use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and similar platforms at least once a week in their free time. This figure has doubled in the last ten years (2013: 341,000). As expected, younger users (under 30: 811,000) are almost twice as likely to be active on social media platforms as older users (over 65: 431,000).

At present, almost one in five German citizens relaxes at least once a month in a sauna, spa, massage or other wellness treatment. This means that interest in this leisure activity has doubled within a decade. City dwellers and young adults in particular enjoy treating themselves to a break in their free time in this way.

On average, one in seven German citizens currently goes to the cinema at least once a month - more than before the pandemic. In large cities, more than one in five people are once again being drawn to the cinema, whereas this leisure activity is much less common in rural areas.

More than half of all German citizens support the use of public and more environmentally friendly means of transport and would even prefer them to their own car - provided that the alternatives are suitably good. In large cities, two thirds can even imagine doing so, while the figure is significantly lower among the rural population.

Two thirds of the population regularly cook or bake something in their own kitchen in their free time. There are only slight differences in age, whereas women are even more active. However, more than half of all men have now also discovered this leisure activity for themselves.

One in twenty citizens cares for their relatives daily. One in eight provides care at least once a week, and one in five is active at least every month. This figure has almost doubled in the last ten years. Within the population, there are hardly any differences between the sexes, and variations based on place of residence or income are also marginal.

Almost one in five people in Germany listen to a podcast regularly, i.e. at least once a week, one in three tune in at least once a month and five per cent even listen daily. This leisure activity is particularly popular among the younger generation: almost one in three regularly listen to podcasts at home or while travelling.

The desire to go on holiday is and remains the highlight of the year for Germans - regardless of where they live or what their family situation is like. However, holiday spending differs significantly. City dwellers spend around 50 per cent more money on holidays than rural dwellers and childless couples and parents spend around 400 euros more per person than singles.

More than half of Germans are cutting back in their daily lives to avoid spending the best weeks of the year at home. The younger generation is particularly likely to report saving for vacations, postponing purchases, going out less often, or consuming less. In contrast, this willingness is less pronounced among many older people, or is less frequently necessary or even possible.