The German economy is threatened with de-industrialization

Dusseldorf Due to the high energy prices and the looming recession, German industry is getting into more and more trouble. Numerous industrial sectors are now reacting with production cuts in order to save gas and electricity.

This primarily affects the energy-intensive industries, which have cut back production across the board: the steel industry by around five percent and the chemical industry by eight percent. The fertilizer industry has even reduced or shut down 70 percent of the production capacities in Germany.

Experts expect that the rapid loss of competitiveness could permanently change the German economy. Oliver Falck, head of the Ifo Center for Industrial Economics, told Handelsblatt: “If energy prices remain as high as they are now in the long term, this could lead to some industries saying goodbye to Germany.”

This applies in particular to energy-intensive companies in the metal and chemical industries, for example, but also basic industries such as oil, glass, ceramics and paper. Most of the industries affected had already suffered from competitive disadvantages before the Ukraine war. Falck: “The current crisis is accelerating this process.”