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GTAI FDI Report

Germany Trade & Invest’s FDI Reports

Germany Trade & Invest, together with Germany’s federal states, compiles all foreign direct investment data in Germany to realize a comprehensive overview of foreign direct investment activity in the country.

Since 2008, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) has compiled data on international business expansions to all of Germany’s sixteen regional states and combined it into a comprehensive overview of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country as a whole. 

GTAI’s annual FDI Reports enjoy significant resonance both in Germany and abroad and among both journalists and businesspeople. The GTAI FDI Reports are one of the most respected data-based sources on the total volume of international companies expanding to Germany.

Methodology


A foreign company must have at least a 50 percent share in a project in order to be included in the count. The following project types are reported to GTAI:


  • Greenfield projects
  • Expansion projects
  • Joint ventures (where these lead to a new project)
  • Relocalization of foreign companies in Germany

Takeovers and mergers (M&A projects) information is not collected.

Here you will find the GTAI FDI Report results of the last five years with the respective individual results for each year.

Content of this page

2022 Report: Germany Books Massive FDI Increase

The US and post-Brexit Britain drove an unprecedented level of FDI in Germany in the past year. Even without a huge investment by chipmaker Intel, the value of business expansions was up considerably.

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

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2021 Report: Business Expansions to Germany Back on the Rise

Foreign direct investment to Germany saw a big comeback in 2021 as Germany Trade and Invest’s FDI report recorded a seven percent increase which elevated greenfield project numbers to 1,806.

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

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2020 Report: Defying the Crisis

The annual Germany Trade & Invest FDI report shows that Germany has attracted more foreign business in 2020 than experts had predicted. We documented 1,684 international companies who set up shop with greenfield investments, expansions and relocations.

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

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2019 Report: More Jobs Created

Despite a decline in raw numbers, foreign firms that set up shop in Germany in 2019 created far greater employment.

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

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2018 Report: Setting New Records

2,062 foreign companies opened up businesses in Germany in 2018 – a new record. That is the result of the 2018 Germany Trade & Invest 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

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