Electronics Industry

Germany is Europe's largest electronics producing nation and is generally diversified in the range of products it has to offer. Most sectors contribute extensively to domestic output, as well as individual segments claiming sizeable shares of the world market.

After growth of 22.2% in 2000 German electronics output fell by 8.1% and 8.7% in 2001 and 2002, respectively before showing a modest recovery in 2003 which gained momentum in 2004 and 2005. Production however slowed in 2006 and moved into negative territory in 2007 when output fell by 1.6%. The country’s dominant position in automotive and industrial products has helped the German electronics industry withstand to a certain extent the sharp decline which has impacted the West European electronics industry since 2000. However, with the automotive sector in free fall and with declining demand in key export markets for durable goods electronics production is forecast to fall by 2.5% in 2008 and 11.4% in 2009, as stated in the report, Electronics Industry in Germany.

Germany is now the leading player in nanotechnology in Europe in terms of funding (approximately €300-330 million per annum), number of companies and dedicated research centres. The Federal Government spent €330m on nanotechnology in 2006.

A new measure in this country is the concentration of nanotechnology project funding on applications in sectors which are particularly relevant for Germany's economic growth and competitiveness, such as in the automotive and ICT industries. Other important sectors are optoelectronics, biotechnology, metrology and medical engineering. Project funding priorities are nanoelectronics, nanomaterials and nanotechnology in optoelectronics.