Firms are also more optimistic about their outlook, a survey of 27,000 companies published by the DIHK showed. While in the autumn only 8% of those surveyed were optimistic about the business outlook in the next 12 months, the share has risen to 16% at the start of the year.
However, the number of pessimistic companies expecting business to deteriorate in the same period remains significantly higher at 30%, the survey showed.
On average across all sectors, three of four companies still view high energy and raw materials prices as a business risk, the survey showed. In the industrial sector, this figure remains very high at 85%. Energy prices have eased but they remain much higher than before the crisis and much higher than in the U.S., Wansleben said.
German industry is set to
pay about 40% more for energy in 2023 than in 2021, before the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a study by Allianz Trade said.
"This puts pressure on margins and investment opportunities," Wansleben said.
Only 27% of the companies surveyed want to invest more in the next twelve months, while 26% want to scale back their investments, according to the DIHK.
"Only if investment picks up more strongly can a self-sustaining upswing develop," Wansleben said. "For this to happen, the right conditions must be in place in Germany and Europe," he added.
The lack of appetite for domestic investments contrasts with the desire of German companies for investments in the U.S. The
German American Business Outlook survey published Wednesday showed that 72% of the German companies surveyed planned to increase U.S. investment this year.
European leaders fear that the $369 billion of subsidies
of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act targeting North
America-based manufacturers could lure companies away from
Europe.
"As an exporting nation, we are dependent on the U.S.,"
Wansleben said. The U.S. remained the most important destination
for German exports
in 2022 for the eighth consecutive year. "This law makes
our life more difficult," he said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez
Editing by Madeline Chambers and Chizu Nomiyama)
