Creditreform Economic Research conducted an analysis of all 400 or so independent cities and rural districts in Germany with regard to high-tech start-ups. The cities of Jena, Karlsruhe, and Darmstadt lead the way in terms of proportion. In the five-year period from 2012 to 2016, the share of high-tech companies in all start-ups was 16.3 percent in Jena, 13.4 percent in Karlsruhe, and 13.3 percent in Darmstadt. Looking at the sheer number of high-tech start-ups, Munich, along with Berlin, leads the field.
For this analysis, the high-tech sector was formed from the research-intensive manufacturing sectors such as the optical, pharmaceutical and electronic industries as well as the technology-oriented services (including engineering offices, research and development).
Universities are crucial
Good conditions for high-tech start-ups are generally found in cities with relevant universities and scientific research institutions, a growing workforce, and existing industry clusters. Accordingly, cities such as Dresden, Munich, and Stuttgart are among the independent cities and districts with the highest proportion of high-tech start-ups. The lowest proportion of high-tech start-ups was in the Kyffhäuser district (1.8 percent), the city of Frankenthal/Palatinate (2.2 percent), and the Bernkastell-Wittlich district (2.8 percent).
In absolute numbers, 129 start-ups in high-tech sectors were registered in Jena, 495 in Karlsruhe and 239 in Darmstadt during the period under review from 2012 to 2016. In terms of numbers, the most high-tech companies were founded in Berlin (5,265), followed by Munich (3,101).
Founding processes do not have to be rigid
While regions with strong or weak start-up activity often remain in this state over the long term, the start-up activity in a region is not rigid and unchanging, but is subject to change, thus offering scope for economic policy. For example, the share of high-tech start-ups in the city of Kaufbeuren increased significantly from 5.3 to 11.2 percent compared to the five-year period from 2007 to 2011. Significantly more high-tech start-ups than in the previous period were also observed in the city of Schwabach (plus 4.4 percentage points) and the district of Deggendorf (plus 4.2 percentage points). The "decliners," on the other hand, include the Kyffhäuserkreis and Odenwaldkreis districts, as well as the cities of Amberg and Frankenthal (Palatinate), where the high-tech start-up rate continued to decline.
New division of Germany?
In the southern German states, the high-tech share of start-ups between 2012 and 2016 was 7.7 percent, almost a full percentage point higher than in the northern states (6.8 percent). Across Germany, 11,311 high-tech companies were founded in 2016 alone. Compared to the previous year (2015: 11,625), the number of high-tech start-ups decreased slightly. In 2016, high-tech companies accounted for 7.1 percent of all economically active start-ups in Germany (159,321). The highest number of high-tech start-ups in Germany occurred in 2000 (21,719). At that time, the share of high-tech companies in all start-ups reached 8.5 percent.
The complete analysis online.
