LinkedIn overtakes Xing as the leading career network

One in six people in Germany (17 percent) use at least one of the two career networks - LinkedIn or Xing. 83 percent of Germans do not use either of these platforms. This is shown by data from a joint survey by YouGov and Macromedia University of Applied Sciences on the use of career-oriented social networks in Germany.

LinkedIn users are not only in the majority compared to Xing users, but also use the platform significantly more often: in May 2025, 13% said they used LinkedIn, while only 7% used Xing. Among LinkedIn users, one in three (32%) say that they access the network at least once a day in an average month. Xing users, on the other hand, use the network much less intensively - only 12% access the platform at least once a day.

Demographics: male and middle-aged

Users of career networks are more often male and middle-aged: 16 percent of men use LinkedIn and 10 percent of women (compared to 9 percent men and 5 percent women on Xing). In the age comparison, career platforms are most frequently used by middle-aged respondents. LinkedIn also tends to be used more frequently by younger people: Over half of LinkedIn users (52 percent) are between 25 and 44 years old. At Xing, the average age is slightly higher - almost one in two users (49%) are between 35 and 54 years old. While 27% of LinkedIn users are between 25 and 34 years old, this age group only accounts for 12% of Xing users. 71 percent of LinkedIn users have a higher level of education (university or university of applied sciences degree), compared to 63 percent of Xing users.

Continuous growth for LinkedIn

More recent data from the YouGov BrandIndex also shows the superiority of LinkedIn: Currently, in February 2026, 8 percent of consumers in Germany are users of the German career network Xing and 15 percent are users of the US network LinkedIn. The user value for LinkedIn has grown continuously in recent years: Xing still had a higher number of users than LinkedIn until the end of 2021. The competitor from the USA then overtook the German network. However, the main factor here is that LinkedIn's user numbers are increasing, while Xing's user numbers remain largely stable or stagnate.

Kathrin Schäfer, Research Manager at YouGov, categorizes the data as follows: "The current use of career networks in Germany shows a clear market shift: LinkedIn has not only overtaken the German network Xing in terms of numbers, but is increasingly establishing itself as a central channel for professional networking and career development."

Prof. Dr. René Arnold, Professor of Management at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, adds: "Those who are present dominate the market. The high level of activity among LinkedIn users shows that the network has become an integral part of professional routines. For Xing, this means not managing relevance, but actively conquering it through clear differentiation and new target groups."

The data from the YouGov Surveys survey is based on online interviews with members of the YouGov panel who agreed to participate in advance. For this survey, a total of 2033 people were interviewed between May 9 and 12, 2025. The survey was broken down by age, gender and region and the results were then weighted accordingly. The results are representative of the resident population in Germany aged 18 and over.