Jim Logajan schrieb:

I suppose one way to compare affordability and ease of acquiring a license
or certificate is to compare the fraction of population that have acquired
them. For the U.S. I believe about 1 in 500 people have a pilot certificate
(~0.2%). (The FAA published stats on number of active certificate holders
on its web site.) Are there numbers available for other countries like
Germany?

I don't know the number, but whatever it is, it doesn't tell much. Or,
it rather tells much about the different interests. Face it, most people
in Germany are interested in different things than most people in the
USA. E.g. soccer is probably the most popular sport in Germany, while
baseball is pretty much inexistant. Or, to stay with aviation: While
there may be less power pilots in Germany than in the USA, there are
many more glider pilots, probably even by the rough number, but
certainly by the percentage of the population. For most Germans, private
flying is just a sport and not a means of transport, for many reasons
other than money or regulation.