As was reported by the Federal Statistical Office the consumer price index for Germany will probably increase by 1.8% in June 2007 as compared to June last year. In May the annual increase had been 1.9%. Compared to May 2007 the index increased by 0.1%. more…

According to the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) in the first quarter of 2007 Germany reduced its import surplus of information and telecommunication products by 34% to 2.5 billion Euros. In the previous quarter the surplus had been 3.8 billion Euros. The main reason for this development are decreasing imports of information and telecommunications technology which fell by 9.6% to 13.9 billion Euros in the first quarter of 2007. On the other side, exports of such technology fell by just 1.1% to 11.4 billion Euros. more…

According to preliminary findings by the Federal Statistical Office, in May 2007 the turnover of German wholesale trade companies was down by 0.8% and 1.8% in nominal and real terms respectively as compared to May 2006. Compared to April 2007 the figure fell by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively. more…

In the first quarter of 2007 just about 42.400 companies were set up of which the legal form and number of employees indicate major economic importance. This figure corresponds to a 5.9% decrease as compared to the first quarter of 2006. On the other hand, the number of second employment businesses rose by 62.000 or 7.5% as compared to the same month in 2006. more…

According to the Federal Statistical Office the import price index was up by 0.6% in May 2007 as compared to the same month in 2006. Compared to April 2007 the index rose by 0.3%.
In May 2007, as was already the case in previous months, the annual inflation rate for non-ferrous metals and semi-finished products thereof was particularly high (+9.3%). more…

Private auctions and small advertisements on the internet are as popular as never before. In the year 2006 there were 12 million Germans aged between 16 and 74 years who used the internet in order to sell goods or services. Thus, one in five people of this age bracket is an online-seller. Compared to previous years there was a strong increase in this context. In the year 2004 the number of online-sellers amounted to just 9 million (14%) in Germany. The German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) forecasts at least 13 million private online sellers for 2007. more…

According to the Institute of the Cologne-based Institute for the German Economy (IW), the Danish Flexicurity model which combines little protection against dismissal with generous unemployment benefits can not be easily applied to Germany the reason being that in Denmark for a long time there has been a completely different wellfare-state model in which there are only small income differences. more…

Oracle Germany which are a provider of technology and software solutions to small and medium-sized entities have published the first edition of ONE. This magazine is dedicated to the challenges faced by small and medium-sized entities (SMEs). More than 70 percent of Oracle´s customers are SMEs and Oracle wants to provide important information and first-hand knowledge to these companies. more…

The average tax burden on public limited companies in the EU member states has fallen from 38% in 1993 to currently 24.2%. Over the last years Germany has reduced the tax charge for public limited companies from 59.7% in 1993 to 38.4% today. In the course of the corporate tax reform scheduled for 2008 another decrease to about 30% is planned. more…

At the end of June 2006 the number of public servants in Germany was about 4.6 million which is 35.000 (about 1%) less than in the year 2005. These figures were published on Saturday by the Federal Statistical Office on the occasion of the international day of public service. more…