Entire music songs downloaded onto mobile phones are as popular as never before. In 2008 Germans downloaded about 6 million songs onto their mobile phones paying 9 million Euros for them. This was revealed in the course of a market study carried out by the association for research on consumption (GfK) on behalf of BITKOM. Thus, the number of music downloads increased by 12% in 2008 as compared to the previous year despite the economic crisis. Many users are nowadays carrying with themselves entire music libraries on their multimedia mobile phones. more…

According to first calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, consumer prices increased by 0.5% in March 2009 as compared to the respective month last year. In February 2009 the annual increase had been +1.0 %. Thus, the inflation rate in March has been the smallest since July 1999. In the monthly comparison with February prices fell by 0.1%. This low inflation rate is in particular due to falling prices for heating oil and fuels. more…

The recession significantly affected the number of new businesses set up in 2008 which according to size and legal form are particularly important for the German economy. As compared to 2007 the number of these businesses newly set up fell by 2.9 % in 2008. The number of small enterprises also decreased by -7.4% following -12% in 2007 as compared to 2006. The number of sideline businesses, however, increased by 5% to 253,000. more…

There are some branches of industry which due to their particularly high innovational power grow even in times of economic crisis or which at least keep their business volume. One such industry is that of specialised microcomputers integrated in certain products, so-called “embedded systems”. A current survey carried out jointly by the German Association for Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) and the TechConsult market research institute showed that demand for these systems will at least remain unchanged this year. According to calculations by market researchers, manufacturers of these systems are predicted to generate about 4 billion Euros in turnover in 2009 in Germany. more…

In the fourth quarter 2008 German exports shrank by 6.0 % as compared to the respective quarter in 2007. The combined values of all exported goods amounted to 233.8 billion Euros. After adjustment for prices the drop in exports even amounted to 7.8 %. For the entire year 2008 exports increased by 3.1 % (after adjustments for prices: by +1.9 %) and reached an overall value of 994.9 billion Euros. Imports increased by 6.3% (+2.5% in real terms) in 2008 as compared to 2007 totalling 818.6 billion Euros. more…

The demand for further training has been growing significantly since the beginning of this year. This is demonstrated by a new index provided by IWWB which is a search engine for courses on further education. The index analyses visits to data bases on further education since the summer last year which reflect the demand for further training among the population in Germany. more…

According to the current „Hotel Price Index“ by the British „Hotels.com“ travel site, average prices for overnight stays in hotels fell by 12% as compared to last year. Most affected by this drop in prices was North America where prices fell by 12% in the fourth quarter 2008 in comparison with the previous year. In Europe prices for overnight stays in hotels fell by 10%, in Latin America and the Caribic by 7%. In Asia prices were down by just 2%. more…

In the year 2008 Germany exported goods to the value of almost 995 billion Euros. At the same time imports amounted to almost 819 billion Euros. The lion share of exports (17.5%) was made up by motor vehicles and components thereof followed by machinery (14.8 %) and chemical products (13.9 %). more…

449 businesses in Germany generated at least one billion Euros of turnover in the year 2007 following 419 companies in 2006. All these 449 companies combined generated a turnover amounting to almost 1.7 trillion Euros which is about one third of the total turnover of all businesses subject to taxation in Germany. Total turnover of all taxable businesses amounted to approximately 5.1 trillion Euros which was an increase by 218 billion Euros (+4.4 %) in 2007 as compared to the year 2006. more…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees very grim prospects for both the global economy and the economy of the Eurozone. For the year 2009 the IWF forecasts the European economy to shrink by 3.2 %. The global economy is expected to decrease for the first time in 60 years by between 0.5% and 1%. more…