In Germany, there is also an east-west divide among influencers

The fact that even almost 30 years after reunification there are still clear differences between East and West can be seen from the fact that wages in East Germany are still significantly lower than in the West. The editors of Wintotal.de wanted to know: How do "Ossis" and "Wessis" fare when it comes to the absolute trendy profession of the social media generation? Where do the most successful influencers come from and how many of them are from the old or new federal states?

Not a single top instagrammer from the East

To this end, the editorial team analyzed the birthplaces of the 50 Instagrammers with the most followers. The surprising result: not a single one of the top influencers comes from the new federal states. "We had definitely expected that fewer top Instagrammers would come from the east - after all, eastern Germany has significantly fewer inhabitants than the old federal states. However, we were extremely surprised that not a single influencer among the top 50 Instagrammers was born in eastern Germany," says Désirée Rossa, head of the study.

According to the authors of the study, one reason could be the poorer internet coverage in the east, for example. Apparently, East Germans are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to marketing themselves online. "Those who are more critical of the influencer phenomenon can also interpret the result in a more flattering way: Perhaps East Germans are simply less superficial and self-absorbed," says spokeswoman Rossa.

Most of the top influencers come from North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the absolute pioneer as the cradle of influencers. 15 of the top 50 come from here. Interestingly, only six of them come from the cities of Cologne (4, including Bibi Heinicke from Bibisbeautypalace, 6.1 million Instagram followers) and Düsseldorf (2, including Dagmar Kazakov alias Dagi Bee, 5.5 million followers).

Smaller Westphalian cities such as Bielefeld, Aachen, Minden and Weilerswist have also produced successful Instagrammers.

Top city of birth for influencers: Hamburg

However, the top city of birth for influencers is Hamburg: 10 of the top 50 are from here, including big names such as Shirin David (5th place in Germany for the number of followers, 4.2 million followers) and Toni Mahfud (9th place, 3.5 million followers).

However, the most successful influencers of all come from elsewhere: the singing twins Lisa and Lena, who have 13.8 million Instagram followers, were born near Stuttgart.

However, no influencers in the top 50 list come from the other two city states. "We were surprised that none of the influencers came from the capital Berlin, especially as the city is known for its creative atmosphere and even has its own influencer academy," says Rossa. "Overall, the study reveals a strong polarization: According to the all-or-nothing principle, some places are massively represented, while many others have not produced any influencers at all."