Global InformationEconomy of Germany information
 Frankfurt, the financial center of Germany | |
| Currency | Euro (EUR, €) |
|---|---|
Fiscal year | Calendar year |
Trade organisations | EU, WTO, G-20, G7 and OECD |
Country group |
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| Statistics | |
| Population | 84,270,625 (2022)[4] |
| GDP |
|
| GDP rank |
|
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita |
|
GDP per capita rank |
|
GDP by sector |
|
GDP by component |
|
Inflation (CPI) |
|
Population below poverty line | 13% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2019)[6] |
Gini coefficient | 29.7 low (2019)[7] |
Human Development Index |
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Labour force |
|
Labour force by occupation |
|
| Unemployment |
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Average gross salary | €4,323 monthly |
Average net salary | €2,781 monthly |
Main industries |
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| External | |
| Exports | $1.62 trillion (2022)[10][3] |
Export goods | motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, rubber and plastic products |
Main export partners |
|
| Imports | $1.17 trillion (2022)[11][3] |
Import goods | machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products |
Main import partners |
|
FDI stock |
|
Current account | $280 billion (2019)[3] |
Gross external debt | $5.4 trillion (2022)[12] |
| Public finances | |
Government debt |
|
Budget balance |
|
| Revenues | 50% of GDP (2023)[13] |
| Expenses | 45.4% of GDP (2019)[13] |
| Economic aid |
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Credit rating |
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Foreign reserves | $400 billion (2022)[19] |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. | |
The economy of Germany is a highly developed social market economy.[20] It has the largest national economy in Europe, the third-largest by nominal GDP in the world, and fifth by GDP (PPP). Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, Germany's GDP as measured in dollars fluctuates sharply. In 2017, the country accounted for 28% of the euro area economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[21] Germany is a founding member of the European Union and the eurozone.[22][23]
In 2016, Germany recorded the highest trade surplus in the world, worth $310 billion.[24] This economic result made it the biggest capital exporter globally.[25] Germany is one of the largest exporters globally with $1.81 trillion worth of goods and services exported in 2019.[26][27] The service sector contributes around 70% of the total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%. Exports accounted for 50.3% of national output.[28][29] The top 10 exports of Germany are vehicles, machinery, chemical goods, electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, basic metals, food products, and rubber and plastics.[30] The economy of Germany is the largest manufacturing economy in Europe, and it is less likely to be affected by a financial downturn.[31] Germany conducts applied research with practical industrial value and sees itself as a bridge between the latest university insights and industry-specific product and process improvements. It generates a great deal of knowledge in its own laboratories.[32] Among OECD members, Germany has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 25% of GDP.[33][34][35]
Germany is rich in timber, lignite, potash, and salt. Some minor sources of natural gas are being exploited in the state of Lower Saxony. Until German reunification, the German Democratic Republic mined for uranium in the Ore Mountains (see also: SAG/SDAG Wismut). Energy in Germany is sourced predominantly by fossil fuels (30%), with wind power in second place, then nuclear power, gas, solar, biomass (wood and biofuels), and hydro.[36] Germany is the first major industrialised nation to commit to the renewable energy transition called Energiewende. Germany is the leading producer of wind turbines in the world.[37] Renewables produced 46% of electricity consumed in Germany (as of 2019).[38] Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy".[39][40] Germany has the world's second-largest gold reserve, with over 3,000 tonnes of gold.[41] Germany spends around 3.14% of GDP on advance research and development across various sectors of the economy.[42][43] It is also the world's third-largest high-technology exporter.[44]
More than 99 per cent of all German companies belong to the German "Mittelstand",[45] small and medium-sized enterprises, which are mostly family-owned. These companies represent 48% of the global market leaders in their segments, labelled hidden champions.[46] Of the world's 2000 largest publicly listed companies measured by revenue, the Fortune Global 2000, 53 are headquartered in Germany, with the top 10 being the following: Allianz, the world's largest insurance company and one of the largest financial services groups and asset managers, largest in Europe; Munich Re, also one of the largest insurance companies; Daimler, Volkswagen, and BMW, among the biggest car markers in the world;[47] Siemens, the world's biggest industrial machinery company; Deutsche Telekom, one of the world's largest telecommunication companies; Bayer, among the biggest biomedical companies; BASF, the world's 2nd biggest chemical producer; and SAP, Europe's biggest software company.[48] Other major companies include Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline, Deutsche Post, the largest logistics company worldwide,[49] Deutsche Bahn, the largest railway company in the world,[50][51][52] Bosch, the world's largest automotive supplier, Uniper, the world´s largest energy company, and Aldi and Schwarz Gruppe, Europe's largest retailers.[53]
Germany is home to many financial centres and economically important cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart; 6 of the 10 biggest EU metropolitan areas by GDP are in Germany. 7 German banks are among the biggest in the world
Germany is the world's top location for trade fairs;[54] around two thirds of the world's leading trade fairs take place in Germany.[55] Some of the largest international trade fairs and congresses are held in several German cities such as Hanover, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig, and Düsseldorf.
- ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Europe :: Germany". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "World Economic Outlook database: April 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
- ^ "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "August 2020: employment slightly up on the previous month". destatis.de. Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Export Partners of Germany". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Import Partners of Germany". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Deutsche Bundesbank" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "Euro area and EU27 government deficit both at 0.6% of GDP" (PDF). ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Sovereigns rating list". Standard & Poor's. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ a b c Rogers, Simon; Sedghi, Ami (15 April 2011). "How Fitch, Moody's and S&P rate each country's credit rating". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ "Scope affirms Germany's AAA rating with Stable Outlook". Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Germany Foreign Exchange Reserves". CEIC Data - UK. 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ Spicka 2007, p. 2.
- ^ "Germany: Spend More At Home". imf.org. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ Alfred Dupont CHANDLER， Takashi Hikino， Alfred D Chandler, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism 1990
- ^ "Scale and Scope — Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. | Harvard University Press". Hup.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ Ettel, Anja (2 February 2015). "Warum Europa über Deutschlands Erfolg meckert" [Why Europe complains about Germany's success]. Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ "German current account surplus to hit record, world's largest in 2016: Ifo". CNBC. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ "National economy & environment - Foreign trade - Federal Statistical Office (Destatis)". Archived from the original on 13 November 2015.
- ^ Statistisches Bundesamt: Ranking of Germany's trading partners in foreign trade: 2014 Archived 21 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, 22 October 2015
- ^ "Country Profile: Germany" (HTML). Macro Trends. p. 1.
- ^ "Germany's capital exports under the euro | vox". Voxeu.org. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ Destatis. "CIA Factbook". Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ "What Germany offers the world". The Economist. 14 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ "How Does Germany do It?". Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ^ Kenworthy, Lane (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" (PDF). Social Forces. 77 (3): 1119–1139. doi:10.2307/3005973. JSTOR 3005973. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2013.
- ^ Moller, Stephanie; Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D.; Bradley, David; Nielsen, François (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies". American Sociological Review. 68 (1): 22–51. doi:10.2307/3088901. JSTOR 3088901.
- ^ "Social Expenditure – Aggregated data".
- ^ Burger, Bruno (15 January 2020). "Public Net Electricity Generation in Germany 2019" (PDF). ise.fraunhofer.de. Freiburg, Germany: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ Wind Power Archived 10 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (Germany) Retrieved 30 November 2006.
- ^ "Electricity production in the 2nd quarter of 2019: nearly half of the electricity supplied was produced from renewables". Destatis. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ "Germany: The World's First Major Renewable Energy Economy". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Fraunhofer ISE, Electricity production from solar and wind in Germany – New record in wind power production, p.2 15 December 2014
- ^ "World Official Gold Holdings - International Financial Statistics, March 2024". World Gold Council. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Our World in Data. "Research & development spending as a share of GDP". ourworldindata.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. "Gross domestic spending on R&D". data.oecd.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ "High-technology exports". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Anteile Kleine und Mittlere Unternehmen 2021 nach Größenklassen in %". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Bayley, Caroline (17 August 2017). "Germany's 'hidden champions' of the Mittelstand". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Leading car manufacturers by revenue 2022".
- ^ "Forbes Global 2000: Germany's Largest Companies". Forbes. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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- ^ "Members to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG". Archived from the original on 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Deutsche Bahn AG at a glance". Deutsche Bahn. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
- ^ "10 biggest retailers in the world". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- ^ "trade shows in Germany, fairs Germany, trade fair Germany, trade show venue Germany". Archived from the original on 29 July 2014.
- ^ "Trade fairs in Germany". German National Tourist Board. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.