An Industrial Powerhouse
Germany is home to global leaders such as Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens, Bosch, SAP, BASF and Bayer. Its Mittelstand — thousands of world-class medium-sized companies — hires engineers and IT specialists across the whole country, not just in big cities.
- Manufacturing accounts for 23.4% of gross value added — far ahead of France (12.7%) and the UK (10.1%)
- Industrial turnover of roughly €1,893 billion, with automotive alone at about €425 billion
- 6.2 million people employed across 45,308 industrial enterprises
- Four dominant industries: automotive, mechanical engineering, chemical and electrical
- Global players: Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, BASF and Siemens
- 48.4% export ratio — Germany is one of the world's great exporting nations
- R&D investment of €53.4 billion in manufacturing, plus €9.5 billion across the rest of the economy