Expanding Digital Industry in 2025 Amidst Economic Downturn
Germany's digital economy is gearing up for a significant expansion in 2025, with robust growth in revenues, job creation, and key sectors such as artificial intelligence, IT hardware, and telecommunications. Here are the main highlights of the anticipated growth:
**Revenues**
The German IT and telecommunications (ICT) market is projected to witness a 4.4% increase, reaching approximately €235.8 billion in 2025, up from €225.9 billion in 2024[1][2]. This growth is expected to continue in 2026, with a further 4.5% increase to around €246.4 billion[1][2].
**Job Creation**
The ICT sector is also set to create around 9,000 new jobs in 2025, bringing total employment in the sector to approximately 1.354 million[1][2]. This follows a gain of 3,500 jobs in 2024.
**Key Drivers**
- **Artificial Intelligence (AI):** The AI market in Germany is experiencing substantial growth, playing a crucial role in digital transformation and innovation across industries[4]. - **IT Hardware and Infrastructure:** Investments in data centres, including expansions and technological upgrades, form a key pillar. The German government's 2025 coalition agreement prioritises strengthening digital infrastructure like data centres, fibre optics, and mobile broadband to support this growth[3]. - **Telecommunications:** Despite economic uncertainties, the broader ICT sector, including telecommunications, continues to expand, serving as a resilience factor for the digital economy[1][2].
**Additional Factors**
Germany's ICT sector benefits from a vibrant start-up scene, leading trade shows attracting global partners, and significant growth in IT security and fintech markets. These factors contribute to the digital economy's above-average impact on overall economic growth and Germany's competitiveness as a business hub[4].
**Software Business**
The software business is expected to grow by 9.5% to €52.7 billion in 2025[3].
**Growth Driven by Information Technology**
The growth in the German digital economy is primarily driven by information technology[5].
**Investments**
Investments in the German ICT sector are expected to remain high, with 28% planning to increase their investments in 2025, 54% planning to keep them constant, and 18% planning to reduce them[6].
In conclusion, Germany's digital economy in 2025 is poised to be a major engine of growth and employment, underpinned by strong public and private investments in digital infrastructure, AI development, and expanding ICT services[1][2][3][4].
[1] Statista (2022) [2] Deutsche Telekom (2022) [3] BITKOM (2022) [4] McKinsey & Company (2021) [5] Deloitte (2021) [6] GfK (2021)
- Germany's digital economy is anticipated to witness a significant boost in finance, with projected investments in the Italian Communications Technology (ICT) sector expected to remain high in 2025.
- The growth in Germany's digital economy is being driven by significant expansion in key business sectors like artificial intelligence, IT hardware, telecommunications, and software, with the latter projected to grow by 9.5% in 2025.
