Most popular leisure activities in Germany 2021

Germans pursued a variety of activities in their free time. In 2021, around 94 percent of the German-speaking population aged 14 years and older said they watched TV. Other popular pastimes included listening to the radio and surfing online. The ranking shows activities undertaken at least multiple times a month.

During the pandemic

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with resulting lockdowns, closures and restrictions across the board in Germany, especially in 2020 and 2021, upended the leisure activity roster for many. Basically, those activities which depended on an external venue or service being open were put on hold, adapted personally, or sometimes pursued online, while pastimes that could be enjoyed independently were more popular in some cases. Pandemic or no pandemic, watching television has consistently remained a favorite during the specified period. An additional challenge cited during 2020 in particular was the difficulty of distinguishing between work and free time while working from home.

This and that

The numerous activities in this ranking are all subject to various influences concerning their popularity at a given time, be that convenience, ongoing pandemic restrictions or concerns, technology, and so on. To give a few examples, barbecuing or grilling several times a month has seen rising numbers in the past year, joyfully arranged between lockdowns, or in private gardens among friends and family. Meanwhile, the number of people reading books in their spare time more than once a month has been slowly dropping in recent years, though the number of people reading several times a week has been increasing.

Most popular leisure activities, hobbies and sports (undertaken at least multiple times a month) in Germany from 2018 to 2021

Characteristic	2018	2019	2020	2021
Watching TV	95.5%	95.3%	94.9%	93.5%
Listening to the radio	85.8%	83.8%	84.3%	84.9%
Surfing the internet	79.9%	80.3%	81.4%	73.2%
Reading magazines	74.4%	72.8%	72%	67.7%
Reading newspapers	75.3%	73.1%	71.4%	67.3%
Visiting people/ having people over to visit	73.2%	72.4%	71%	67.3%
Communicating with others on social networks	66%	68.1%	70.8%	67.3%
Cooking	68%	69.1%	69.2%	59.2%
Taking a walk	62.9%	61.7%	63.1%	44.1%
Listening to music	57.4%	55.3%	54.5%	41.7%
Sports	38.5%	38.2%	39.8%	40.4%
Reading books	38%	37.8%	38.7%	38.8%
Photography	40.1%	40.1%	38.6%	37.4%
Cycling	36.1%	36.7%	37.9%	33.6%
Watching films/ series (e.g. DVDs, Blu-Ray, streams)	35.2%	35.5%	36.6%	32.4%
Going out (restaurant, pub)	36.5%	36.7%	35.9%	31.9%
Doing something with your (grand)children	37.9%	37.1%	34.3%	27.1%
Working in the garden	32.4%	33%	31.3%	22.9%
Video games/ computer games	23.3%	23.1%	23.6%	20.2%
Window shopping/ shopping	26.6%	24%	21.8%	17.7%
Arts and crafts, home improvements, DIY	18.8%	18.9%	19.6%	15.6%
Going to the gym, fitness centre, strength studio	13.6%	14%	14.8%	14.7%
Board games	11.7%	14.1%	14.7%	12.6%
Swimming	13.8%	14.5%	14.1%	12.5%
Taking day trips*	13.6%	12.8%	13.4%	12.3%
Participating in discussion groups, hobby groups*	11.5%	13%	13.1%	11.5%
Going out (disco, clubs)	13.3%	12.5%	10.7%	11%
Visting sports events	10.8%	11.2%	10.6%	9.9%
Gymnastics	10.3%	10.5%	10.6%	9.6%
Engaging with other cultures, learning foreign languages	9.3%	9.7%	10.4%	9.3%
Barbecuing, grilling	9%	10.4%	10.2%	9.2%
Going to church/ getting involved with the church	9.9%	10%	9.9%	9.1%
Knitting, crocheting, tailoring	8.3%	8.3%	8.5%	9.1%
Visiting wellness studios (e.g. yoga)/ going to the sauna	8%	6.9%	7.2%	8.1%
Playing soccer	7%	6.7%	6.7%	7.5%
Listening to audio books/radio plays	4.8%	5.6%	6.6%	7.2%
Playing a musical instrument	6.3%	6.7%	6.5%	5.9%
Listening to a podcast	-	-	6.1%	5.5%
Walking/ nordic walking	5.8%	5.6%	6%	2.7%
Hiking	5.3%	5.1%	5.7%	2.3%
Visiting city festivals (flea markets etc.)	5.5%	5.5%	5.5%	2.1%
e-Sports (computer games)	-	-	4.6%	2%
Playing tennis	2.2%	2.6%	2.7%	1.9%
Visting cultural events/museums	2.7%	2.7%	2.5%	1.4%
Horseriding	1.6%	1.5%	1.6%	1.3%
Going to concerts/ festivals	1.6%	1.5%	1.3%	1.2%
Playing basketball*	0.9%	1.1%	1.3%	1.1%
Visiting games arcades	1.4%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%
Skiing/ snowboarding	1%	1.1%	1.1%	0.7%
Water sports/ sailing/ surfing	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%	-
Going to the theatre/ opera	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	-
Playing golf	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	-
Going to musicals	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	-
Going to the sauna***	-	-	-	-
Visiting wellness studios (e.g. yoga)***	-	-	-	-

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Ranking of the most popular leisure activities in Germany 2018-2021