Industries in Germany
Germany is a world-renowned business and manufacturing location. From the historically-famous automobile industry, through chemicals and engineering, to digital innovations and Industrie 4.0, Germany has consistently been at the forefront of industrial leadership.
Now celebrated as a global place of innovation and a pioneer of the new Industrie 4.0 concept, Germany is continuing to evolve into the digital age and embrace new industries, such as environmental technology, additive manufacturing and the digital economy. With a world-class infrastructure, a skilled and flexible labour force and a national strategy geared towards innovation, Germany is a place for all-comers to invest in.
Industrial Germany: Six Strong Numbers
In Germany, industry is the foundation for growth – much more so than in other countries Prosperity.
Gross value added in the Manufacturing Sector
Manufacturing contributed 23.4 percent to gross value added in Germany in 2017. By comparison: in France the share was 12.7, in the UK 10.1 percent.
Turnover in Industry
Turnover in the manufacturing companies amounted to 1,893 billion euros in 2017. The top sector was the automotive industry with 425 billion euros.
Employees in Industry
6.2 million employees worked in Germany in 2017 in 45,308 industrial enterprises with 20 or more employees. That’s more people than Denmark has inhabitants.
Germany’s most Important Industries
4 dominant industries in Germany: the automotive, mechanical engineering, chemical and electrical industries.
The global players are Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW (all automotive), BASF (chemical) and Siemens (electrical). Mechanical engineering is characterized by small and medium-sized enterprises.
Industry’s export quota
Industry’s export ratio is 48.4 percent – and German automotive manufacturers produce twice as many cars abroad than at home.
Investment in Research
The manufacturing sectors invested 53.4 billion euros in research and development in 2016. The figure for the rest of the economy was 9.5 billion euros.
