Small companies and the self-employed make up more than 80 percent of companies in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The business situation of German micro-enterprises and the self-employed has deteriorated for the third month in a row. The business climate index, which the Ifo Institute collects together with the website developer Jimdo, has slipped to minus 4.4 points. A million livelihoods are threatened, they say. The results are available to the Handelsblatt.
This means that the micro-enterprises are increasingly being decoupled from the overall economy, where the situation is continuing to improve. The corresponding Ifo business climate index has recently risen to plus 24.8 points.
The Ifo and Jimdo business climate index is based on surveys of 1,300 companies with up to nine employees. The smallest companies and the self-employed make up more than 80 percent of companies in Germany and employ 5.7 million people.
The reason for the poor situation is still the service sector. “It turns out that the lack of demand in the service sector is the driving problem for micro-enterprises,” says Klaus Wohlrabe, head of the Ifo surveys. 41 percent of those surveyed said so.
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The pandemic-related restrictions are weighing on the situation of small businesses in Germany. Hope is now given by the gradual easing planned until the end of most restrictions on March 20th. When it comes to business expectations, micro-enterprises and the self-employed are a bit more optimistic than in the previous month.
Rising prices and growing insecurity as a result of the war
However, the survey ended shortly before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The experts now see the danger that the business of micro-enterprises will slide straight into the next crisis. “Against the background of current world events, we have to be particularly careful that the little ones don’t disappear from the public radar again,” says Jimdo boss Matthias Henze.
Small businesses are hardly directly affected by the war. However, there are indirect effects. These include the enormous price increases for energy. According to Henze, the uncertainties caused by the escalated conflict could also cause demand to fall further.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has announced a loan program to relieve the companies affected by the Ukraine war. But the German micro-enterprises will most likely not benefit from this.
At the same time, the Corona economic aid will expire at the end of June. By then, demand in the economy as a whole should have largely recovered. However, some sectors, such as the events industry, could be exempt from this.
More: Habeck wants to support companies affected by sanctions with loans