Press releases

Digital transformation is advancing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany: More than a third of SMEs had a "high" to "very high" level of digital intensity in 2025.

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The Expert Commission for Research and Innovation (EFI), including IfM President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederike Welter, today presented its new annual report to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

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There is broad consensus among family businesses in Germany that an ecological transition is necessary. But from the perspective of the Mittelstand, the key question at present is how companies can achieve a climate-friendly transformation while at the same time remaining competitive.

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As in the past four years, the issue of "skilled workers/demographic development“was the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs in 2025: According to the survey, four in ten companies find it difficult to recruit qualified staff despite the current economic slowdown.

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According to estimates by the IfM Bonn, a succession will be due in around 186,000 companies over the next five years, as their owners are expected to step down from management because of age, illness or death.

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The IfM is the academic research centre for the Mittelstand. It arose from a letter exchange between Ludwig Erhard and Konrad Adenauer. These roots show that SMEs are more than just an economic factor.

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The geopolitical situation and increasingly fragile trade relations are currently posing particular challenges for export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, the expanding defence sector for example also offers opportunities for companies that are prepared to change their …

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Despite numerous geopolitical challenges, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generated €2.8 trillion in 2023, according to the most recent data available. This was 28% of Germany’s total turnover.

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In 2024, most people started their own freelance businesses in Berlin, followed by Hamburg, Munich and Cologne.

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The number of new entrepreneurial initiatives is back above pre-pandemic levels in all of Germany

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Die Anzahl der Auszubildenden in der gewerblichen Wirtschaft und in den Freien Berufen ist in 2024 um rund 19.000 gegenüber dem Vorjahr gestiegen. Insgesamt lag sie Ende Dezember 2024 bei 1,52 Millionen.

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For many self-employed craftswomen in North Rhine-Westphalia, pregnancy brings not only joyful anticipation but also significant physical and financial strain. This is the finding of a recent survey conducted by the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn on behalf of the Ministry of Economic …

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In recent years, Germany has tended to lose attractiveness as a location for investment projects. One reason is that commercial building permit procedures can sometimes take very long, making it difficult to accurately estimate total project costs.

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A total of approximately 360,000 new businesses were founded in Germany in 2024. Around 258,000 of them were started in the commercial sector, 7,040 in agriculture and forestry, and 94,900 in the liberal professions.

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"According to a recent short survey, the vast majority of managing directors in Germany’s Mittelstand sector are calling on the new federal government to ensure reliable and consistent policy frameworks – and to refrain from excessive regulatory steering. This applies in particular to the ecological …

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