A survey, conducted by German IT industry lobby group BITKOM, was intended to show how the division between real life and the virtual world is increasingly coming down.
In all, 23 per cent of around 1000 respondents in the survey said they would be prepared to have a chip inserted under their skin "for certain benefits".
Around one in six (16 per cent) said they would wear an implant to allow emergency services to rescue them more quickly in the event of a fire or accident.
Five per cent of people said they would be prepared to have an implant to make their shopping go more smoothly. But 72 per cent said they would not "under any circumstances" allow electronics in their body.
The results appeared to surprise even the high-tech sector. "This is of course an extreme example of how far people can imagine networks going," BITKOM chief August-Wilhelm Scheer said.