Europe's biggest sock study
Who only changes their socks every few days? Who owns the most pairs? And who has the socks prefer to have mom buy them?
BLACKSOCKS knows the answers. A total of 3000 men and women were surveyed in six European countries. This representative survey was conducted by the market research institute GfK Switzerland on behalf of BLACKSOCKS . The results are surprising and reveal major differences within Europe. The respondents from all six countries had only one thing in common: the older you get, the less often you put on fresh socks.
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Italy: the most diligent sock shoppers
"Change is mandatory"
Who would have thought it: when it comes to socks, no other European country is as clean as the Italians.
One in ten even puts on fresh socks several times a day. Southern Europeans buy new socks around 16 times a year. An Italian sock drawer contains an average of 17 pairs.
The Italians' bestseller:
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Great Britain: the biggest mama's boys
"Shopping is for others"
Who buys the Brit new socks? Not the wife, not the partner - the mother!
Brits who don't buy their socks themselves usually send their mum. When it comes to changing and owning socks, British men are in the middle of the pack. But not when it comes to shopping tactics, which are unique!
The Brits' bestseller:
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Switzerland: the laziest sock changers
"Cleanliness is not a virtue"
Switzerland, the cleanest country in the world. That stops at the feet at the latest. Nowhere else do men change their socks as rarely as in Switzerland.
Only 70% of those surveyed put on fresh socks every day. One in six wears the same socks for two days in a row, and one in ten Swiss men wear the same socks for more than two days.
Bestseller of the Swiss:
![](http://eu.blacksocks.com/cdn/shop/files/Sockige-Fakten-Sockenumfrage-Frankreich-1800x1200-Pages-Sidenews.png?v=1716294197&width=1800)
France: the emptiest sock drawers
"Change is the exception"
Nonchalance is at home in these sock drawers. There's plenty of room, because the Frenchman has by far the fewest socks: just 17 pairs.
Madame and Monsieur prefer to spend their money on other things; they only buy 9 pairs of new socks a year. The negative record in this survey. Nonchalance when it comes to changing socks too: Monsieur doesn't like changing his socks very much, only 2 out of 3 do so every day.
Bestseller of the French:
![](http://eu.blacksocks.com/cdn/shop/files/Sockige-Fakten-Sockenumfrage-Deutschland-1800x1200-Pages-Sidenews.png?v=1716294197&width=1800)
Germany: the country with the most socks
"Quantity is important"
You can never have too many socks. At least that's how the Germans see it. Women and men here own 24 pairs each. That's a European record.
Every year, Germans buy 13 new pairs of socks. And when you have so many new pairs of socks, you want to wear them: 8 out of 10 respondents change their socks every day.
The Germans' bestseller:
![](http://eu.blacksocks.com/cdn/shop/files/Sockige-Fakten-Sockenumfrage-Oesterreich-1800x1200-Pages-Sidenews.png?v=1716294197&width=1800)
Austria: the most comfortable sock buyers
"Delegation is the key"
No one likes delegating as much as Austrian men. Around a quarter of those surveyed have their socks bought for them.
Mostly by their wife or partner. And they do this very conscientiously: Austrians own an average of 23 pairs of socks, putting them in second place behind Germany when it comes to sock ownership.
Austrians' bestseller: