Germany Trade & Invest’s FDI Reports

Report summary

Germany attracted 34.8 billion euros worth of international business projects in 2023 – that’s the result of Germany Trade & Invest’s (GTAI) annual FDI study. The figure includes both greenfields and expansions. It does not include any mergers or acquisitions. The comparable figure for 2022 was 25.3 billion – meaning that 2023 brought an annual increase in volume of 37.5 percent. The raw number of foreign direct investment projects, 1759, was down slightly (24 projects fewer) over 2022. 

For comparison, according to data from fDi Markets, foreign direct investment was up 2.6 percent worldwide. In Europe FDI decreased by 7.4 percent, and in Western Europe by 8.8 percent.

Eleven projects in Germany involve planned investments of more than 500 million euros. Eight are greenfields, while three are expansions within Germany. Eight projects involve planned investments exceeding one billion euros.

Read the full press release.

Key findings

• Germany’s federal states registered 1,759 FDI projects (greenfield, expansions, relocations, but excluding M&A) in 2023 - a slight reduction of 1percent compared to the previous year. Additionally, 484 M&A-Deals were recorded, in which foreign investors bought more than 50 percent of shares.
• The US led all countries in greenfield projects with 235, while the EU was the leading source region.
• Foreign companies preferred investments in strategic industries such as Energy & Resources as well as Digitalization.
• 17 percent of the international companies use Germany as a production or R&D location.
• Germany recorded a record investment volume of 34.8 billion euros.

Charts

Report summary

Despite the economic turmoil following Russia’s war on Ukraine, 2022 was a record year for international business expansion to Germany. Companies from various parts of the world committed to expansions worth a head EUR 25.3 billion. Intel’s decision to build new megafab production facilities in Magdeburg accounted for EUR 17 billion. But even when that behemoth investment is factored out, FDI into Germany was still EUR 8.3 billion – a significant increase over the 7 billion in 2021.

In terms of absolute numbers of business expansion projects, the situation roughly held steady at 1,783 projects (down 23 from 2021). Ten percent more American companies (279 projects in total) opted to set up shop in Europe’s largest economy, making the US the top source country. Incoming FDI from second-ranking Switzerland was slightly down while FDI from Britain (170 projects) rose 21 percent, landing it third on the list.

Major areas for FDI to Germany were semiconductors, clean energy, digitalization, logistics and the service sector.

Read the full press release here.

Key findings

• Germany’s federal states registered 1,783 FDI projects in 2022 (greenfield, expansions, relocations, excluding M&A) - only a slight reduction of one percent compared to the previous year.
• Additionally, 171 M&A deals were recorded, in which foreign investors bought more than 50 percent of shares.
• The US led all countries in greenfield projects with 279, while the EU was the leading source region.
• Foreign companies invested most often in the ICT and communications sector, followed by business and financial services.
• Fifteen percent of  the international companies use Germany as a production or R&D location.

Charts

Report summary

1,806 international companies set up shop in Germany in 2021 in the form of greenfield investments. The number of projects was up seven percent over 2020, rebounding almost fully to 1,851 in the final pre-corona year 2019.

The overall volume, however, is expected to be well in excess of EUR 7 billion. And it doesn’t include the massive expansion projects first announced in 2022 by Intel and Northvolt, which were worth at least EUR 17 billion and EUR 4 billion respectively.

Read the full GTAI 2021 FDI Report press release.

Key findings

• Germany’s federal states registered 1,806 FDI projects (greenfield, expansions, relocations, but excluding M&A) in 2021 - a seven percent rise compared to the previous year. Additionally, 229 M&A-deals were recorded, in which foreign investors bought more than 50 percent of shares.

• The US led all countries in greenfield projects with 254, while the EU was the leading source region.
• Foreign companies preferred investments in the ICT and communications sector, followed by business and financial services.
• 18 percent of these companies use Germany as a production or R&D location.

Charts

Download the 2021 GTAI FDI report

Report summary

The 2020 figures were down nine percent compared to 2019. But the decline is anything but surprising considering the global coronavirus crisis. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) predicted that foreign business investments would decline by fifteen percent within the EU, so nine percent is ultimately positive news.

American businesses led the way with 254 projects in Germany, followed by Switzerland (219) and China (170). Germany is also becoming more and more attractive as a business location for e-mobility companies, with major expansions by US carmaker Tesla and Chinese battery producer SVOLT. Other popular sectors for projects were ICT and software (19 percent), business and financial services (17 percent), consumer goods (ten percent) and machinery manufacturing (nine percent).

Read the 2020 GTAI FDI report press release.

Key findings

• Germany’s federal states registered 1,684 FDI projects (greenfield, expansions, relocations, but excluding M&A) in 2020 - a nine percent decrease compared to the previous year.
• Additionally, 372 M&A transactions were recorded in which foreign investors purchased more than 50 percent of shares.
• The US led all countries in greenfield projects with 254, while the EU was the leading source region.
• Foreign companies preferred investments in the ICT and communications sector, followed by business and financial services.
• 19 percent of these companies use Germany as a production or R&D location.

Charts

Download the 2020 GTAI FDI report

Report summary

The number of foreign companies that came to Germany last year declined by around ten percent from the 2018 record of 1,851. But Germany profited more from their presence, significantly increasing jobs created from 24,000 (2018) to 42,000 (2019). 

“Thanks to successes in attracting foreign investors like Tesla last year, we demonstrated that as a business location Germany is among the absolute world leaders and is able to persuade people internationally,” said German Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier.

Read the 2019 GTAI FDI report press release.

Key findings

• The greatest number of foreign investment projects in 2019, 302, came from the United States, followed by 185 from Britain, 184 from Switzerland and 154 from China.
• Additionally, 419 M&A transactions were recorded which involved foreign investors buying up more than 50 percent of shares.
• The US led the way in terms of greenfield projects with 302, while most of the new facilities were from the EU.
• The greatest number of investors came from the ICT sector, followed by business and financial services and consumer goods.
• The amount of money invested rose from EU 4.8 billion in 2018 to EUR 5.1 billion in 2019.
• 19 percent of the companies use Germany as a production or R&D location.

Charts

Download the 2019 GTAI FDI report

Report summary

The EU is the most important source of Greenfield and expansion projects in Germany. The US holds its position as the top investor country leading the way with 345 investment projects – also a new record. The Americans were followed by Switzerland (229 projects), China (188) and the UK (168).

The number of British firms established in Germany since the Brexit referendum (2016-2018) has risen by 34 percent. Meanwhile the number of new Chinese companies in Germany fell by 33 percent compared to the same period (2016–2018). The number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) also went up, from 1,925 in 2017 to 2,825 in 2018 – an increase of more than 47 percent.

Read the 2018 GTAI FDI report press release.

Key findings

• Altogether, Germany‘s federal states registered a record of 2,062 settlement projects (greenfields, expansions, relocations, not M&A) in 2018.
• Additionally, foreign companies in Germany registered 2,852 M&A transactions, 497 of which involved foreign investors buying up more than 50 percent of shares.
• The US led the way in terms of greenfield projects with 345, while most of the new facilities (more than 40 percent) were from the EU.
• The most popular sectors last year were business and financial services, followed by IT, communications and software, consumer goods, and machine and parts manufacturing.
• Roughly a third of foreign companies concentrated on marketing and distribution while 17 percent used Germany as a location for production and R&D.
• In a poll conducted by Germany Trade & Invest 45 percent of British firms said that Brexit had influenced their decision to invest in Germany.

Charts

Download the 2018 GTAI FDI report