Global Bitcoin Interest Index Ranking: The top ten countries include 7 European nations

Author: Bitcoin Magazine

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

The Bitcoin Popularity Index (BPI) is the first comprehensive search study of its kind. The index aims to measure Bitcoin's global influence through extensive analysis of Google search queries.

Unlike many studies that provide absolute data or various dimensions of multiple tokens, the BPI data primarily considers factors such as language diversity, the dominance of Google, and population size, providing specific insights into Bitcoin interest. This approach not only measures the raw interest in Bitcoin across different countries but also gauges the level of engagement with Bitcoin in various nations.

While the BPI is not intended to provide definitive answers, it offers a unique perspective by integrating these different elements, transforming from a general metric into a richer, more contextual understanding of Bitcoin's adoption worldwide.

2024 Bitcoin Popularity Index

Key Findings

• The United States has the highest monthly query count at 14,432,650, followed by Brazil with 12,400,260 queries. Germany, India, and Turkey round out the top five.
• Seven of the top eight and eight of the top ten are occupied by Western European countries.
• The average BPI for "Western" countries is about 3,720 (compared to 1,250 for other regions), indicating a relatively high popularity of Bitcoin.
• Africa has the lowest BPI score among all continents, possibly due to an internet penetration rate of only 40%.
• The most searched queries related to Bitcoin are price queries, typically the price of Bitcoin against the US dollar. However, in Egypt, Bitcoin is more often priced in gold bars rather than dollars or Egyptian pounds.
• The total number of monthly Bitcoin-related queries is nearly 77 million, with direct searches for "Bitcoin" approaching 10 million.
• The query ratio of Bitcoin to Ethereum is 9:1.

Comparison by Continents

Oceania has the highest average BPI at approximately 4,901, indicating that Bitcoin is very popular in the region. This data comes from only two countries (New Zealand and Australia), both benefiting from high levels of internet penetration.

Following closely is Europe, with an average BPI of 3,719 across 41 countries, showing that Bitcoin is far more popular across the European continent than in most other regions.

Top 50 Countries

Rankings 1-15

Rankings 16-32

Rankings 33-50

Data Collection Methodology

• Data Selection: Given that Google retains all search query data related to cryptocurrencies, it is crucial to identify the most reliable datasets. To be as comprehensive as possible, datasets from SEMRUSH, Ahrefs, DataOs, Moz, and Google Trends were downloaded and analyzed.
• Data Comparison and Selection: Although the results from SEMRUSH and Ahrefs, the two largest available datasets, are largely similar, there are significant differences between the two in many terms. Some countries show discrepancies exceeding 80%. This variability makes it impractical to mix data or fill gaps for countries where SEMRUSH did not provide data, as the differences are too large to aggregate reliably.
• Query Configuration: Extensive matching queries for "Bitcoin" and "BTC" cover Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Japanese, Hindi, Persian-Arabic, Cyrillic, Tamil, Sinhala, Chinese, and Thai, among others.
• Combining Demographic and Search Engine Data: Demographic data comes from Worldometers, and Google's market share data comes from Statcounter. For this study, the Google market share for all countries was recalibrated to 100% to standardize the impact of search engine usage on the data.
• Calculating Per Capita Search Volume: Using the above data, the per capita search query volume for each country was calculated. This step is crucial for normalizing data across different populations, allowing for comparable insights into Bitcoin interest regardless of country size.
• Data Visualization: The final results were categorized and plotted on a Chloropleth map using the visualization tool Datawrapper.

The proportion of the population using the internet in a country was not considered in the calculations, as those without internet access are unlikely to be interested in Bitcoin. Africa's recently reported internet penetration rate is 40%, comparable to the rates in Europe and the US in 2005. Although this rate remains low, it is on the rise, and Bitcoin's popularity is also increasing.

Data Scope and Limitations

The BPI index is limited due to the lack of data from 77 countries, including China, Iran, Cuba, and 33 African countries (notably Tanzania, Kenya, and Sudan). The absence of key regional data results in an incomplete global perspective on Bitcoin engagement.

Additionally, the BPI index is based on third-party estimates, as Google does not share specific search query data for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. VPNs also somewhat obscure search origins, but they are not expected to significantly impact the results.

Data from a few countries is inaccurate because "BTC" is the name of a telephone company in the Bahamas, an internet provider in Botswana, and a shopping mall in Slovenia.

The BPI index provides a detailed view of global interest in Bitcoin through Google search queries. While this study uses the best available data, it is important to note that the BPI is not intended to definitively answer which country has the highest adoption rate for Bitcoin. Instead, the BPI serves as an indicator of general interest and engagement with Bitcoin across different countries.

The data shows that Oceania has the highest BPI score, but Europe performs the strongest, with 41 out of 43 countries showing significant results. Furthermore, countries with higher internet penetration rates exhibit stronger search data, leading to a bias in the data towards these nations.