Since the Russian attack on Ukraine in February of this year, business expectations in the digital sector have declined rapidly. At the same time, the actual business situation has only declined relatively slightly. After a slight recovery in October, the index The business situation index fell by 3.4 points to 31.7, but is still slightly above the September level. Expectations for the coming six months remain almost unchanged from the previous month at the deeply negative value of -18.2 points. The index calculated based on the business situation and business climate Bitkom-Ifo Digital Index At 5.2 points, it is only just in positive territory. The last time a worse reading was recorded was in June 2020, in the depths of the shock following the onset of the pandemic.
Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder says:
“The digital industry is currently proving itself resilient to the crisis, but the coming months will be marked by many uncertainties.”
The Ifo Institute's corresponding economic indices for the overall economy are once again significantly below those for the digital sector: the business climate is deeply negative at -11.3 points, the business situation is falling from 14.6 to 12.3 points, and business expectations are rising from a very low level from -40.9 to -32.2 points.
Digital industry plans new investments
Further results of the survey of digital companies conducted by Bitkom and Ifo are rather positive: More than a quarter of the companies surveyed intend to increase investments in the coming year, around half intend to maintain them at the previous year's level, and less than a quarter plan to reduce investments. Investments in software in particular are expected to expand. 28 percent plan additional spending, while only 14 percent plan cuts. In research and development, 23 percent of companies intend to invest more, while 13 percent expect cuts. And 23 percent have planned additional investments in equipment, while 17 percent intend to cut back on this. When it comes to buildings, however, there is considerable reluctance. Only 14 percent of digital companies intend to invest more, while 32 percent will cut these expenses.
