Munich remains Germany's digital leader: Smart City Index 2025!

Munich remains Germany's digital leader: Smart City Index 2025!

Munich is once again in the race for the digital crown! According to the latest results of the Smart City Index published by Bitkom, the Bavarian capital is the smartest city in Germany. This means that Munich secures first place, as in the previous two years. This remarkable achievement demonstrates the continuous progress the city has made in the areas of digitalization and smart city initiatives. Government Gazette reports that the competition is not sleeping: Hamburg is holding strong in second place, while Stuttgart has climbed four places to third thanks to remarkable progress.

A total of 83 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants were analyzed to assess the level of digitalization in Germany. The categories included administration, IT and communication, energy and environment, mobility and society and education. The basis for the evaluation was over 13,500 data points, which were collected from information from the cities and databases such as the broadband atlas and the registration statistics of the Federal Motor Transport Authority. 163 parameters were queried for each city, which were combined into 37 indicators in order to draw a comprehensive picture of how well the municipalities are positioned in digitalization, according to the report Bitkom.

The places in detail

Cologne follows in fourth place, while Hanover has made a lot of progress and has now made it to seventh place - an improvement of a full 34 places! In the east, Leipzig only has two representatives in the top 20 with 9th place and Dresden in 18th place. Berlin performs rather weakly in terms of digital development at 33rd place.

• 1. Platz: München
• 2. Platz: Hamburg
• 3. Platz: Stuttgart
• 4. Platz: Köln
• 7. Platz: Hannover (Verbesserung um 34 Plätze)
• 9. Platz: Leipzig
• 18. Platz: Dresden
• 33. Platz: Berlin

Bitkom President Dr. Ralf Wintergerst emphasizes that the progress is particularly encouraging and that cities like Hanover can serve as a role model. The spirit of competition is palpable and the desire to set the tone in the digital world is becoming increasingly tangible. Perhaps other cities will also follow these successes – there is definitely something there!

The evaluation not only shows where the cities stand, but also provides information about where improvements still need to be made. While North and Baden-Württemberg have some strong representatives in the top places - five cities each in the top 20 - the Free State of Bavaria is well represented with three cities, but not yet at the level of the other federal states.

Digitalization is not a sure-fire success, as this ranking clearly shows us. The investments, as well as the commitment and participation of citizens, are crucial in order to maintain and expand innovative strength in the coming years. One thing is clear: in Munich people know how to have a good hand for the digital future!

Full information and data collection details can be found in the report Computer Week.