The UK risks falling farther behind the Germans in the 21st Century high-tech economy, according to a new survey.

More than a third of Europe's top dotcoms are German and they collectively make up 45 per cent of the £121 billion price tag accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers have put on Europe's top 150 internet firms.

Delivering a blow to the widely-held belief that Britain carries the flame for the European Union in the technology sprint with the US, the survey also revealed that while half of German dotcoms are profitable, only 26 per cent of their UK rivals make money.

One of PWC's partners, Kevin Ellis, said while it was difficult comparing the relative strengths of European competitors based solely on a snapshot survey, it was plain Britain lagged behind Germany.

Mr Ellis said: "The German market is significantly larger than the UK and their companies do appear to be more profitable.

"It is easier to access and download information in Germany because their infrastructure is more advanced."

He said more of Germany was covered by high-speed fibreoptic telephone lines than the UK, much of which still relies on the old copper wires where downloading takes far longer.

The survey also found that as the online business world matures, its leaders are adopting more sensible attitudes to spending money on advertising and marketing.

Using a measure known as the "burn rate" - defined as the speed at which businesses run out of cash and go bust without extra financing - PWC said the average company "burnt out" after 20 months.

But this figure seems like an eternity compared with the average "burn rate" of just 13 months reported last December.

Businesses offering goods and services directly to consumers are riskier than those involved with other companies.