The digital industry is poised for growth in 2021. In addition to increased revenues, Bitkom expects 20,000 additional jobs in the sector by the end of the year. Currently, 1.2 million people are employed in ICT companies.
The Bitkom-ifo Digital Index, which measures the business climate in the industry, reached 19.7 points in December 2020, its highest level since February 2020.
"The Corona crisis has accelerated digitalization in many areas. Businesses, governments, and consumers are investing in digital technologies, and even investments that had been postponed in the meantime are now being made up for,"
says Bitkom President Achim Berg.
"The Bitkom industry has so far weathered the crisis well. The signs point to renewed growth in 2021."
In 2020, sales in the digital sector fell by 0.6 percent to 169.8 billion euros.
Significant increase in IT hardware, software and communications infrastructure expected
The strongest growth is expected by Industry association In the IT hardware segment – specifically computers, servers, and peripherals – growth of 8.6 percent to 31.6 billion euros is expected. Growth is also expected for the software sector, which shrank last year – by 4.1 percent to 27.0 billion euros.
"While IT hardware is at the top of the shopping list, another trend in information technology is gaining momentum with the rapidly growing cloud business. It's increasingly about renting instead of buying. Infrastructure-as-a-Service, the business of renting servers, network, and storage capacity, has recently recorded annual growth rates of up to 40 percent and is now a billion-dollar market,"
says Berg. Investments in telecommunications infrastructure are also expected to increase significantly this year. The expansion of 5G mobile communications and fiber optic lines will ensure growth of 3.2 percent to 7.1 billion euros.
