Friendship Report 2026 · DACH region · As of June 2026
When, who & how we make new friends
Anonymised, aggregated data from 96,000+ BuddyMe members in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on when, who and how people look for new friendships. Activity is highest at weekends and in the evening, and nearly half of those looking are aged 18 to 29.
When are people most likely to reach out?
At weekends and in the evening. Weekend days see about 29% more contact signals than weekdays, peaking around 20:00.
Who is looking for new friends on BuddyMe?
Mostly young adults: nearly half (48.8%) are aged 18–29, about 81% under 40. Average age: 31.9.
How do people meet?
Through shared activities: most often just hanging out, then sport, the outdoors and going out. What people look for shifts with age.
1. When people reach out
Weekends are the most social time: Saturdays and Sundays see about 29% more contact signals than an average weekday, with the low point on Wednesday. Across the day, activity rises into the evening and peaks around 20:00.
Contact signals by weekday
Deviation from an average day (avg = 0)
Contact signals by time of day
Peak around 20:00
Most meetups come together at short notice: two in three signals (67%) are for "this week", roughly one in seven (14%) for today or right now. Friendship here doesn't need several weeks of lead time.
2. Who is looking for new friends
The average age is 31.9 (median 30). Nearly half (48.8%) of those looking are aged 18–29 — exactly the group the German government's Loneliness Barometer now names as an at-risk group for loneliness.
Age groups
Gender (where specified)
Women are a slight majority of members.
3. How people meet
Contact happens through shared activities. Most often members simply arrange to meet up; sport, the outdoors and going out follow.
4. What changes with age
What people look for shifts clearly with age: under 30, nightlife and gaming rank high; from 50 on, the outdoors and coffee dominate — the share of "going out" roughly halves, from about 14% to 7%.
Ages 18–29
Ages 30–49
Ages 50+
5. Where people search most actively
Absolute numbers only show where BuddyMe has the largest community. More telling is activity per capita — new contact signals per 100 members over the last year. This reveals where members search most actively for new friends, regardless of community size. The picture shifts clearly toward Germany.
New contact signals per 100 members (last 12 months)
Vienna has by far the largest community, yet sits only mid-table per capita (17 per 100). The metric measures activity per member — a fair city comparison, not a measure of "loneliness".
6. Context: what the research says
The BuddyMe data sits alongside existing research on friendship and loneliness.
~200 h
of shared time on average before acquaintances become close friends (50 h for casual, 90 h for good friends).
University of Kansas, 201846 %
of 16- to 30-year-olds in Germany feel lonely — young adults are seen as a new at-risk group.
Bertelsmann Stiftung, 202448.8 %
of BuddyMe users looking are 18–29 — first-party data reflecting exactly that age group.
BuddyMe, June 2026Methodology & citation
Based on anonymised, aggregated BuddyMe usage data from Germany, Austria and Switzerland (as of June 2026). Members: 96,000+. Age figures are based on roughly 44,000+ adult members with a date of birth; activity and age cross-tabs on roughly 17,000+ contact signals; day- and hour-of-day patterns on roughly 8,600+ signals from the last twelve months (Europe/Berlin time). Only aggregated figures are reported — no personal data.
Free to use — including for media — with the citation "BuddyMe Friendship Report 2026". For questions, raw data or quotes: [email protected] . Press kit: Press page.
About the data source
BuddyMe is an app, founded in 2012, through which people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland arrange to meet for shared activities. Every figure in this report comes from anonymised, aggregated platform usage data.