German digital sector: growth despite weakening consumer electronics
The digital sector in Germany is growing by 4.3%. However, sales in the consumer electronics sector are falling significantly.
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The digital economy in Germany will once again grow significantly this year despite a slump in consumer electronics. According to an economic forecast by the digital association Bitkom for 2024, the market for information technology (IT), telecommunications and consumer electronics will grow by 4.3% to just under 225 billion euros. For 2025, the association expects growth at a similar level of 4.7% to 235.4 billion euros.
The figures for the consumer electronics segment are disappointing: As in the previous year, sales are falling here. Bitkom expects a drop of 7.5% to 7.6 billion euros. "Despite the European Championship and Olympic year, there has been no profound recovery in classic consumer electronics," said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst. However, many households are still being supplied with the latest TV sets or loudspeakers that were purchased during the coronavirus pandemic. The durability of hardware has also improved.
In other segments of the Bitkom industry, things are going much better than in consumer electronics. As in previous years, information technology is recording the strongest growth. According to the latest forecast, the IT sector will reach a turnover of 151.2 billion euros in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 5.4%.
Software sales are growing particularly strongly, rising by 9.8% to 46.6 billion euros. Platforms for the development, testing and provision of software recorded growth of 12.8% to EUR 12.6 billion. Within this segment, the area of artificial intelligence increased by 39.2% to EUR 1.5 billion.
Stable development and new jobs
Wintergerst said that the digital sector would develop stably overall in 2024 in a difficult environment. However, he expressed concerns about strong political intervention in the market, crises and unresolved issues in the traffic light coalition, which are causing uncertainty. The Bitkom President called on the German government to avoid additional uncertainty through market intervention and disproportionate regulation.
Despite difficult conditions, new jobs continue to be created in the sector according to Bitkom calculations. In the current year, 29,000 new jobs are expected to be created, with almost 47,000 to be added in the coming year. This means that 1.41 million people will be employed in the Bitkom sector by the end of 2025, compared to 810,000 in 2005.
Wintergerst pointed out that the digital sector is Germany's strongest job engine, even if individual companies have recently had to cut jobs. Employment could be even higher if there were enough skilled workers, as many companies are unable to fill vacancies.
(mack)