New high: German professionals receive over 50 emails per day

The number of professional emails in the inboxes of German professionals reached a new high last year, with an average of 53 per day. This is at least the result of a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom, which was presented now. According to the survey, the number of professional emails has doubled in just four years; in 2021, it was 26 per day. The data also shows that 14 percent of working people in Germany receive more than 100 emails every day. Only one percent receive fewer than 10 emails per day.

40 years old and not outdated

The survey makes it clear that email is “still the most important form of professional communication,” says Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder, commenting on the results. It is well-established, easy to use, and functions reliably. Moreover, the technology is based on an open infrastructure with independent providers and does not create dependency on individual platforms. However, the survey provides no information on whether the ever-increasing number of professional emails are actually needed. The question asked was only, “How many emails do you receive on average per day to your professional email address?” A total of 1002 people in Germany aged 16 and over participated, 532 of whom are employed.

In Germany, email only celebrated its 40th birthday in 2024; the very first was received on August 3, 1984, at the then University of Karlsruhe by Michael Rotert. With the increasing spread of home computers and thanks to free email services in the 90s, the breakthrough was not long in coming. The form of electronic letters has not changed since then. However, spam has become an ever-increasing problem; GMX and Web.de alone filter out billions of such mails. If these are not automatically recognized as spam, such emails land in the inboxes and likely contribute to the continuously rising email volume.

(mho)