Press releases

In the first half of this year, more main branch businesses were established in Germany (46,000) than were closed (34,000). These include startups with a commercial register or craft roll entry, or with one or more employees.

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Around 27,000 self-employed women have born a child each year. Unlike women in regular employment, they are not entitled to maternity benefits under the Maternity Protection Act, as it does not apply to them. However, they can voluntarily secure their income during the maternity leave periods before …

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More than 3.4 million companies in Germany are classified as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) according to the European Commission's definition of SMEs. This is more than 99% of all private sector businesses in Germany.

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In the competition for apprentices, micro enterprises (with fewer than 10 employees subject to social security contributions) are increasingly falling behind. Despite a slight increase in the total number of apprentices to over 1.5 million, there were 3.4% fewer apprentices employed in these micro …

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According to the researchers at IfM Bonn, the Federal Government's goal to simplify, expedite, and digitize procurement law is a step in the right direction: The planned Growth Initiative aims to reduce bureaucratic effort for both clients and contractors in future procurement procedures. …

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"In principle, we welcome that the Bavarian state government aims to simplify public procurement in municipal construction by expanding the upper limits for direct awards" explained Sebastian Schneider, one of the authors of the IfM study "Mittelstand-Friendly Design of Public Tenders".

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Own resource constraints and the desire to gain an early knowledge advantage over competitors are primary motives why Mittelstand enterprises, with regard to the circular economy, initiate - and implement - innovative projects together with startups, research institutions, or other businesses.

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The health and social care sector – particularly hospitals and larger care facilities – as well as the transportation sector were most frequently affected by bankruptcies in 2023. This is shown by the proportion of insolvent companies relative to the total number of companies.

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Überwiegend herrscht in den mittelständischen Unternehmen in Deutschland Konsenz darüber, dass es der ökologischen Transformation bedarf. Aktuell besteht jedoch die Gefahr, dass ein zu hoher Detaillierungsgrad sowie eine überbordende Zertifizierungspflicht zu Ausweichstrategien führen könnten.

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Im vergangenen Jahr starteten mehr Gründerinnen und Gründer in der Land- und Forstwirtschaft (+ 4,5 %) sowie in den freien Berufen (+ 1,7 %) als in 2022. Dagegen sanken die Existenzgründungen im gewerblichen Bereich geschätzt um 5 %.

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Dr Constantin Terton (German Confederation of Skilled Crafts; ZDH) called for a return to the social market economy and a focus on the values of individual responsibility and performance orientation at today's Mittelstand Roundtable in Berlin ...

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More than every third company (36%) developed new products, imitated innovations from competitors, or further developed their own products between 2018 and 2020. While the majority (63%) of companies with more than 250 employees did so, only every third small enterprise and 44% of medium-sized …

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The European single market is of highest importance for Mittelstand industrial enterprises, both as procurement and as sales market, surpassing all other foreign markets. Following behind with great distance are markets in other European countries and in China.This was revealed by an IfM survey of …

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The number of startups in the liberal professions increased by 1.7% in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching around 94,670. This means that once again, more freelancers took the path to self-employment than in the previous year.

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The necessity of an ecological transformation has now become a societal consensus. According to a previous study by the IfM Bonn, Mittelstand enterprises in Germany also predominantly support the ecological transformation.

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