The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy’s Digitalisation Index records the status of Digitalization of the German economy based on 37 indicators. The results are broken down by industry, company size, group of federal states, and region types.
The most advanced sectors in terms of digitalization are the information and communications sector, automotive engineering, and the electrical and mechanical engineering sectors.
Large companies with more than 249 employees are significantly further ahead in digitalization than medium-sized companies with 50-249 employees. Smaller companies have the greatest need to catch up.
Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg lead the digitalization index
Regional differences were assessed in four federal state groups. The national average was set at 100 points. The western states (Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland) came in last with 93.6 points. The eastern German states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia came in third with 94.2 points. The northern states of Germany, comprising Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein, achieved 98.0 points. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, with 110.5 points, took first place by a wide margin. Digitalization ranking.
In terms of region types, the more urban and densely populated regions are, the more digitalized they are.
Thomas Jarzombek, Startup Commissioner of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, says:
"With the Digitalization Index, we now have an up-to-date and differentiated annual overview of the digitalization of companies and can monitor developments. In the current first year, the starting positions are essentially determined. We see that there are enormous differences in the degree of digitalization between industries. Even small and medium-sized enterprises are not yet fully exploiting their digitalization potential."
The next edition of the Digitalization Index is scheduled to be published in autumn 2021.
