2/6/2008

Bavaria’s Economics Minister comments on growth figures for the year 2007

Müller: “With a growth rate of nearly 3 percent, Bavaria leads the field in terms of upswing”

MUNICH   In the past year, Bavarian industry expanded in real terms by 2.9 percent. The State thus claimed first place among the Laender ahead of Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. “The high in the South of the country has continued. Bavaria is leading the wave of upswing and still the engine driving growth in Germany,” commented Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Emilia Müller, referring to the first provisional estimate of the Working Group on National Accounting by the German States.

The Minister said that both domestic demand and foreign business had contributed to the growth. In real terms the gross added value in the manufacturing industries had once again surged up by an exceptional 6.8 percent. “What is particularly pleasing is that all parts of the State are benefiting from the positive trend. This is also reflected first and foremost in rising employment right across the State and in a dramatic drop in unemployment,” Müller underlined.

The Minister of Economic Affairs pointed out that Bavaria’s economic output had increased by nearly 30 percent in the last ten years. That was almost 10 percentage points ahead of the next best placed states, namely Saarland (with 20.8 percent) and Baden-Württemberg (with 19.6 percent). Bavarian industry had expanded nearly twice as fast as in Germany as a whole (16.5 percent). “When it comes to long-term growth, Bavaria is still the unchallenged front-runner. Last year we further built up our top position,” the Minister said.

Müller sees the well above-average macroeconomic momentum as impressive confirmation of the proactive economic policy Bavaria has been pursuing for some time now. Favorable framework conditions for small and medium-sized companies and start-ups along with the promotion of rural areas were paying off as much as the innovation initiatives and the support given to industry to help it enter the world markets. Müller: “We are lining up for the future with a modern business community that is excellently positioned to face competition at home and abroad.”

The Economics Minister was also optimistic about the new year. While economic risks had clearly magnified, with the result that the pace of growth would probably slow down slightly in Bavaria as well, there was no sign of the upswing coming to an end yet. A 2 in front of the decimal point could also be achieved in 2008.

In nominal terms, overall economic output in 2007 was 4.7 percent up at a good € 434 billion, in other words about € 66,400 per gainfully employed person and € 34,720 per head of population. Both values exceed the federal German average of € 60,976 and € 29,445 respectively. In the year before, overall economic production had already expanded vigorously with a plus of 3.3 percent.

Change in GDP 2007/2006 in a comparison of the Laender:

Bavaria 2.9
Hamburg 2.8
Baden-Württemberg 2.7
Saxony 2.7
Rhineland-Palatinate 2.7
North-Rhine Westphalia 2.6
Germany 2.5
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2.5
Saxony-Anhalt 2.4
Saarland 2.3
Hesse 2.2
Brandenburg 2.2
Bremen 2.0
Thuringia 1.9
Lower Saxony 1.8
Berlin 1.8
Schleswig-Holstein 1.4

Change in GDP in the last ten years (2007/1997) in a comparison of the Laender:

Bavaria 29.4
Saarland 20.8
Baden-Württemberg 19.6
Thuringia 18.6
Saxony 17.7
Germany 16.5
Hesse 16.5
Hamburg 15.4
Brandenburg 15.0
Bremen 13.8
Rhineland Palatinate 13.8
Lower Saxony 13.5
North-Rhine Westphalia 12.4
Saxony-Anhalt 10.5
Schleswig-Holstein 9.7
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 9.1
Berlin - 3.1


Source: Invest in Bavaria