Germany in the World Economy
• General characteristics of economy
• Structure of German Economy
General characteristics of economy
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Area - 357,021 km2 (63rd)
Population (2012) - 80,399,300 (16th)
Density - 225/km2 (58th)
GDP (2012, nominal) - $3.401 trillion(4th)
GDP (2012, PPP) - $3.197 trillion (5th)
• Germany is the world's fourth-largest
economy by nominal GDP and the fifth-largest
by purchasing power parity.
• As a global leader in several industrial and
technological sectors, it is the second-largest
exporter and third-largest importer of goods.
• The country ranks highly in many international
metrics of performance, has developed a very
high standard of living, and features a
comprehensive social security system, which
includes the world's oldest universal health
care system.
• The official average national unemployment
rate in June 2013 was 6.6%.
• However, the official average national
unemployment rate also includes people with
a part-time job that are looking for a full-time
job.
• Germany has a social market economywith a
highly skilled labour force, a large capital
stock, a low level of corruption,and a high
level of innovation.
• Germany is the biggest net contributor to the
EU budget
• The service sector contributes approximately
71% of the total GDP, industry 28%, and
agriculture 1%.
Business
• Of the world's 500 largest stock-market-listed
companies measured by revenue in 2010, the
Fortune Global 500, 37 are headquartered in
Germany.
• 30 Germany-based companies are included in
the DAX, the German stock market index.
Well-known global brands are Mercedes-Benz,
BMW, SAP, Siemens, Volkswagen, Adidas,
Audi, Allianz, Porsche, Bayer, Bosch, and
Nivea.
Science and technology
• Known for its rich cultural and political history,
Germany has been the home of many
influential philosophers, music
composers, scientists, and inventors.
• The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 103
German laureates.
• For most of the 20th century, German
laureates had more awards than those of any
other nation, especially in the sciences
(physics, chemistry, and physiology or
medicine).
• The work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck
was crucial to the foundation of
modern physics, which Werner Heisenberg
and Max Born developed further.
• Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays and was the
first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
• Otto Hahn was a pioneer in the fields
of radioactivity and radiochemistry and
discovered nuclear fission, while Ferdinand
Cohn and Robert Koch were founders
of microbiology.
• Numerous mathematicians were born in
Germany, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, David
Hilbert, Bernhard Riemann, Gottfried Leibniz,
Karl Weierstrass, Hermann Weyl and Felix
Klein.
• Germany is one of the leading countries in
developing and using green technologies.
Companies specialising in green technology
have an estimated turnover of €200 billion.
• Key sectors of Germany's green technology
industry are power generation, sustainable
mobility, material efficiency, energy efficiency,
waste management and recycling, and
sustainable water management
Structure of German Economy
• Germany is relatively poor in raw materials.
Only lignite and potash salt are available in
economically significant quantities.
• Power plants burning lignite are one of the
main sources of electricity in Germany.
• Oil, natural gas and other resources are, for
the most part, imported from other countries.
Germany imports about two thirds of its
energy.
• The service sector contributes around 70% of the
total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%.
• Most of the country's products are in
engineering,
especially
in
automobiles,
machinery, metals, and chemical goods. Germany
is the leading producer of wind turbines and solar
power technology in the world.
Agriculture
• Germany is the third largest agricultural
producer in the European Union after France
and Italy.
• Germany’s principal agricultural products are
potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, and
cabbages.
• The forestry industry provides for about twothirds of domestic consumption of wood and
wood products, so Germany is a net importer
of these items.
• Agriculture is extremely productive, and
Germany is able to cover 90% of its nutritional
needs with domestic production.