FRANKFURT, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Germany's medium-sized companies managed to achieve modest growth in 2024 despite the country's prolonged period of economic stagnation, according to a survey report published on Tuesday.
Total sales of the medium-sized firms surveyed by Germany's state-owned development bank KfW rose slightly by 2 percent in 2024. Their average profitability stabilized at 7 percent, while total employment reached a new record of 33.01 million.
Despite the growth, the investment appetite among German medium-sized companies remains low, at only 39 percent. High prices for materials, energy, and wages, together with Germany's weak overall economic performance and stringent regulatory requirements, continue to dampen investment sentiment, the KfW report said.
There is also growing concern about Germany's attractiveness as a business location. Bureaucracy, a shortage of skilled workers, high costs, weak demand, and political uncertainty have all been identified by KfW as factors likely to erode the competitiveness of German medium-sized enterprises.
"Many problems need to be solved simultaneously," KfW noted.
The KfW's survey on Germany's medium-sized companies has been conducted annually since 2003. This year, 13,079 companies took part in the study. ■