Cookie consent rates by country
Look up how many people in Germany accept cookies and you'll find anything from under 25% to 83%. Both can be right. They measure different things.
This page puts the published numbers side by side, says what each one measures, and adds what we measure ourselves.
Three numbers for the same visitors
Three published numbers for Germany, all from serious sources:
- 83.3%consent rate: accepts out of the people who made a choice (Didomi)
- 60.6%opt-in rate: accepts out of everyone who saw the banner (Didomi)
- ~21%'accept all': only full accepts, out of everyone who saw the banner (Advance Metrics)
The gap is the people who never click the banner, about a quarter of visitors, and how strictly 'accept' is counted. Before you compare your own rate, check which of these your banner tool reports.
Cookie consent rate per country
| Country | Didomi, 2022 data | ConsentStack, 2026 data | Advance Metrics, 2023 data | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consent rate | Opt-in rate | No choice | Full opt-in | Accept all | |
| Belgium | 87.9% | 70.2% | 20.5% | 73% | ~29% |
| Spain | 87.4% | 65.0% | 25.9% | 71% | ~28% |
| Austria | 87.2% | 67.2% | 23.0% | ||
| United Kingdom | 86.7% | 64.2% | 26.1% | 72% | ~27% |
| Ireland | 84.0% | 60.2% | 29.0% | 84% | |
| Germany | 83.3% | 60.6% | 27.8% | 63% | ~21% |
| Slovakia | 82.3% | 65.0% | 20.9% | ||
| Czechia | 79.1% | 60.4% | 23.5% | ||
| Italy | 76.5% | 54.2% | 29.3% | ~25% | |
| France | 72.1% | 54.0% | 25.0% | 72% | ~22% |
| Netherlands | 72% | ~27% | |||
| United States * | 68% | ~36% | |||
| Poland | ~26% | ||||
| Switzerland | ~23% | ||||
Didomi: accepts out of choices, accepts out of banner views, and banner views without a choice. ConsentStack: every optional category accepted, out of choices. Advance Metrics: 'accept all' out of banner views, on B2B sites with a close button, read off their charts (±1 point). Empty means the source has no figure for that country.
* Most US sites use opt-out banners, where doing nothing counts as yes. Don't compare these with the European rows.
Average cookie consent rate in Europe
Didomi's own Europe figures: consent rate 78% in 2023 data and 76.6% at the end of 2024. In 2025 it ranged from 75.1% in Western Europe to 89.3% in Eastern Europe. About one in four visitors never makes a choice at all.
What we measure
68% of orders
At the median of 8 Dutch shops and ticket sites we work on, 68% of orders reached GA4 with analytics consent (Sep–Oct 2026). That's a different number again: buyers are more engaged than the average visitor, and someone who ignored the banner counts as denied.
A small sample, so read it as an indication. We only count shops where denied orders reach us too (Consent Mode advanced).
We're adding our own per-country measurement of accept, reject and ignore from the shops we monitor. This page will show it once there's a month of data.
Numbers to stop quoting
"Under 25% accept in Germany, over 80% in the US"
This one comes from a 2023 Advance Metrics study, but it mixes two charts. The German figure is 'accept all' under an opt-in banner, the US figure is under an opt-out banner where doing nothing counts as yes.
"94% of Americans accept cookies"
Didomi's US figure counts everyone who did not opt out, so it includes the people who did nothing. It can't sit next to a European opt-in rate.
"Most people accept cookies: 80% and up"
That's Didomi's consent rate, counted only over the people who made a choice. Out of everyone who saw the banner it's closer to 60%, because about a quarter never click.
What it means for your data
- Visitors who deny or ignore the banner still reach GA4 as cookieless pings when you use Consent Mode advanced. GA4 models them, but they never get a source that sticks.
- Google Ads and Meta get less to optimise on. Ads models the missing conversions, Meta does not.
- Server-side tracking doesn't change any of this. It has to respect the same choice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cookie consent rate?
It depends on how it's counted. Over the visitors who made a choice, European sites reach 72% to 88% (Didomi, 2022 data). Over everyone who saw the banner it's 54% to 70%, because about a quarter of visitors never click. Check which of the two your banner tool reports before you compare.
What is the average cookie consent rate in Europe?
Didomi measured a consent rate of about 78% in 2023 data and 76.6% at the end of 2024, counted over visitors who made a choice. Over all banner views the opt-in rate was about 59%, and roughly 23% of visitors made no choice at all.
Which country has the lowest cookie consent rate?
It depends on the source. In Didomi's per-country table France is lowest, with a 72.1% consent rate and 54% opt-in rate, and Belgium, Spain and Austria highest at about 88%. In ConsentStack's sample Germany is lowest (63% full opt-in).
What's the difference between consent rate and opt-in rate?
Consent rate divides the accepts by the visitors who made a choice. Opt-in rate divides them by everyone who saw the banner, so people who ignore it count against you. For the same visitors the two differ by about 20 points.
Is it true that fewer than 25% of Germans accept cookies?
Only for 'accept all' clicks out of all banner views, on B2B sites with a close button (Advance Metrics, 2023). Didomi measured a 83.3% consent rate and a 60.6% opt-in rate for Germany, and ConsentStack 63% full opt-in.
Does Consent Mode recover data from visitors who reject cookies?
Partly. With Consent Mode advanced, GA4 receives cookieless pings and models the missing users and conversions, and Google Ads models conversions too. Meta doesn't. The visitors themselves never get a source that sticks. See how we set up Consent Mode and your cookie banner.
Is your banner costing you data?
We check your consent setup end to end: the banner, Consent Mode, and what actually reaches GA4 and the ad platforms.
Sources · checked 3 November 2026
- Didomi, Consent collection in 2023 (Data privacy benchmark) · 2022 · Didomi customer sites, top 10 countries by banner volume, sites without a reject option excluded
- ConsentStack, What is a good cookie consent rate? · 2026 · 19 ConsentStack customer sites with 100+ decisions each
- Advance Metrics, Cookie behaviour study · 2023 · International B2B websites, banner with a close button; values read off charts (±1 point)
- Didomi, Average consent rate in Europe · 2022–2025 · Didomi customer sites, by region
- Our measurement: Tag Monitor, purchase events in the browser with the analytics consent state GA4 received, per shop, median over shops. Shops that send nothing when consent is denied are left out.