Business with Germany

Germany possesses a well-developed road and rail network as well as several international airports (including Frankfurt/Main and Munich).

The German economy expanded by 2.7% in 2021, with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of about 1,009.3 US billion dollars (4.44 trillion Euros) in December 2020, compared with 981.4 US billion dollars in the previous quarter.

Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. In Addition, Germany was the third-largest importer and exporter worldwide, measured by the value of goods.

Germany’s major industries are car manufacture, machinery, household equipment, and chemicals. By far the largest part of the total economic output in Germany is generated by the service industry (73,8%). It is followed by the industrial sector (25.5%). Only 0.7% of the total economic output can be attributed to the agricultural sector. Mining has a long tradition in Germany. The country possesses several mineral resources including coal, noble salts, industrial metals and building materials as well as silver, iron and tin. As an industrial country, Germany specializes in global raw material imports of all kinds.

Germany is dominated by four industries: automotive, mechanical, engineering, chemical, and electrical. In 2021, the German economy recovered from the previous year's Corona-related slump, but not as dramatically as expected. 

The global pandemic had a direct and devastating impact on the export-oriented German economy in 2020/21. Global demand for German-made goods fell sharply, and the epidemic led to Germany's worst loss in import and export volumes since the 2009 financial crisis. 

In 2020, Germany will have exported products worth around 1.2 trillion euros and purchased items worth approximately 1.0 trillion euros. Exports were down 9.3 percent year on year, while imports were down 7.1 percent.

Germany provides stable political and financial framework conditions and an overall good investment climate.

Key branches of the German economy include the:

• Automotive industry
• Electric industry
• Gastronomy and tourism industry
• Logistics
• ICT sector
• Machinery and plant construction

Important German export goods are mainly:

• Vehicles and motor vehicle parts
• Machinery
• Chemical products

Germany intends to dramatically boost onshore wind energy as part of the Easter Package by changing the Renewable Energy Act (EEG). Furthermore, between now and the end of the 2020s, Germany plans to install up to 10 GW of new onshore wind power every year.

Clean energy will account for 46% of Germany's net public power output in 2021. This is down from 50% in 2020, according to Fraunhofer ISE, Europe's premier solar energy institute.

Aside from that, Berlin has set 2030 as the goal for powering Europe's largest electricity market with 65 percent renewable energy. This is because the European Union, of which Germany is the most powerful member, has set a target of reducing net emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. This is intended to be a step toward the United Nations target of "net-zero" emissions by 2050, which was set in an effort to mitigate the worst excesses of climate change.

According to the Federal Statistics Office, German families with a monthly net income of fewer than 1,300 euros (percent 1,475) spent about 10% of their entire income on energy in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available. Energy expenses were for 6.1 percent of consumer spending across all income levels, up from 5.8 percent in 2019.