BERLIN, May 25 (Xinhua) — The share of revolutionary corporations in Germany “fell rapidly” through the COVID-19 pandemic, with just one in 5 thought of “particularly innovative” in 2022, in keeping with a research revealed on Thursday by German think-tank the Bertelsmann Stiftung.
“This will have serious consequences for the (competitiveness) of German companies on global markets,” Armando Garcia Schmidt, an financial professional at Bertelsmann, stated in an announcement.
If much less German corporations take into account themselves as technological pioneers or now not dare to work on breakthrough improvements, “prosperity is at a great risk,” he stated.
Last 12 months, the variety of German patent functions on the European Patent Office (EPO) fell by 7.8 p.c to 24,684 in comparison with 2019. Although this nonetheless made the nation second solely to the United States, the hole with different nations is narrowing.
China has been catching up with the highest league, which additionally consists of Japan. Compared to pre-pandemic ranges, China elevated its European patent functions by greater than half to 19,041 in 2022.
According to the Bertelsmann Stiftung, multiple in 4 German corporations postponed or utterly canceled deliberate innovation actions through the COVID-19 pandemic. For corporations with no particular give attention to innovation, the cancellation fee was virtually twice as excessive.
Germany nonetheless accounted for 29 of the five hundred corporations worldwide with the very best spending on analysis and growth, a current evaluation by consulting agency EY Germany confirmed. In 2022, the R&D spending of those German corporations totaled 68 billion euros (72.8 billion U.S. {dollars}), 11 p.c greater than within the earlier 12 months.
Only China, Japan and the U.S. hosted extra prime R&D-investing corporations: 38, 98 and 164, respectively. “Companies from Germany do not look bad internationally at first glance. However, the race is on,” Henrik Ahlers, chairman of the administration board at EY Germany, stated earlier this month.
“Germany as a business location is under pressure as probably never before in its history,” Ahlers stated. “High energy and production costs, difficult-to-source raw materials, uncertain supply chains and significant geopolitical tensions are a challenging mix — particularly for an exporting nation like Germany.” (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar)