In brief

Business register
Crafts
Mittelstand
Foreign-controlled enterprises
Business notifications
Insolvencies
ICT use in enterprises

Business register

The German business register is a regularly updated database of enterprises and local units with a taxable turnover from deliveries and output and employees subject to social insurance contributions. Evaluations of business register data on the number of enterprises and local units and their employees, who are subject to social insurance contributions, and their sales (turnover) reveal economic structures in Germany.

Crafts

Crafts are defined through specific occupational activities, which can be performed only if specific requirements are met. The Crafts Code specifies those activities and the requirements that have to be fulfilled. The term Crafts refers either to occupational activities or to the enterprises engaged in these activities. The official statistics provide information on extent and growth of the crafts sector through structural and short term surveys.

Mittelstand

Time and again, the term Mittelstand is used in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role as regards employment and are considered a major pillar of our economy. The relevant information has been compiled in a multi-sector economic analysis rather than a single survey. The analysis has been based on the data of several structural business statistics covering manufacturing, energy and water supply, trade, accommodation and food services, and components of other service branches (that is about 80% of all enterprises).

Foreign-controlled enterprises

The structure and activity of foreign-controlled enterprises in Germany are reflected in what are called Inward Foreign AffiliaTes Statistics (Inward FATS). The statistics are based on a regulation of the European Union which obliges all Member States to transmit annual data to the Statistical Office of the European Union. The goal of the statistics is to obtain information on enterprises under foreign control and their importance for the economy of the European Union as a whole. In addition, Inward FATS allow monitoring the impact of the world market on domestic enterprises that are integrated in the global economy.

Business notifications

A major characteristic of market economies is the creation and disappearance of enterprises. In this context, the statistics of business notifications provides information on business start-ups and closures.
With the first Business Response Burden Reduction Law, the statistical evaluation of business modifications has been abandoned since September 2006.

Insolvencies

Insolvency statistics serve the purpose of collecting reliable and nationally comparable data on insolvency proceedings. They cover all insolvency proceedings opened, rejections of such proceedings for lack of assets and proceedings where, based on a court order, a plan for the settlement of debts was accepted. The statistics provide information on the insolvency situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and are important as a lagging cyclical indicator.

ICT use in enterprises

Effectively using information and communication technologies (ICT) nowadays is a major strategic factor for enterprises. Information technologies facilitate access to information, accelerate business processes and provide enterprises with new global acquisition and sales channels. Thus ICT penetration can give an important impetus to economic growth and employment, in particular, in countries with scarcer natural resources or economic regions like the European Union.

Tables

Business register
Crafts
SMEs
Foreign Affiliates
Business notifications
Insolvencies
ICT

Business register

Tables

Business Register Enterprises, employees liable to pay social insurance contributions and taxable turnover

Crafts

Tables

Crafts (structural data)

Crafts enterprises with compulsory approval
Crafts enterprises with non compulsory approval
Crafts enterprises
Enterprises in selected economic sections
Shares of small and medium-sized enterprises in the crafts sector
Cost structure 1998

Crafts-related industry (structural data)

Groups of trade by employees 1996
Groups of trade by turnover 1996

SMEs

Tables

Enterprises, persons employed, turnover, investments, gross value added

Economic sections, total
Enterprise size, economic sections
Enterprise size

Foreign Affiliates

Tables

Foreign-controlled enterprises by selected economic sections
Foreign-controlled enterprises in Germany by country of origin of the parent company

Business notifications

Tables

Business deregistrations in Germany by economic activities
Business registrations in Germany by economic activities
Business registrations and Business deregistrations
Business notifications in Germany

Insolvencies

Tables

Business insolvencies and insolvencies of other debtors
Insolvencies by Länder
Business insolvencies and frequency by Länder
Insolvencies and insolvencies of frequency by branches of economic activities
Insolvency proceedings (enterprises)
Insolvency proceedings (other debtors)
Insolvencies: businesses, consumers, monthly data

Long Term Series from 1950

ICT

Tables

Use of information and communication technology information and communication technology (ICT) in enterprises

Enterprises using computers, with internet access and a website
Enterprises using the following types of internet connections, by economic activity
Enterprises with contracted data transfer rate, by economic activity
Enterprises with a website, by employment size class and economic activity
Enterprises employing their own IT personnel and employment size class
Enterprises using social media, by social media platform and employment size class
Enterprises using cloud computing services, by employment size class
Enterprises analysing big data, by employment size class

Tables

The information and communication technology (ICT) branch

Development of German foreign trade in information and communication technologies (ICT) - goods, by selected importing countries
Development of German foreign trade in information and communication technologies (ICT) - goods, by selected countries of destination
Enterprises, persons employed, turnover and investments in the information and communication technologies (ICT) - sector

Enterprises, total	2015	3,5 mn
Craft enterprises	2014	588,781
Foreign affiliates	2014	28,076
Business registrations	2016	685,373
Business deregistrations	2016	651,739
Business insolvencies	2016	21,518
Enterprises employing their own IT personnel	2016	7%

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In brief

Business register

Crafts

Mittelstand

Foreign-controlled enterprises

Business notifications

Insolvencies

ICT use in enterprises

Tables

Business register

Tables

Crafts

Tables

Crafts (structural data)

Crafts-related industry (structural data)

SMEs

Tables

Foreign Affiliates

Tables

Business notifications

Tables

Insolvencies

Tables

ICT

Tables

Use of information and communication technology information and communication technology (ICT) in enterprises

Tables

The information and communication technology (ICT) branch

Key figures

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