Germany’s healthcare economy growing strong
A report compiled by the independent economic research institute WifOR shows Germany’s healthcare economy continues to thrive. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) commissioned the Darmstadt-based organization to gather the data for the country’s latest national healthcare industry account known as the Gesundheitswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung (GGR).
WifOR’s data shows that Germany’s healthcare economy showed clear growth in 2021. The sum the industry contributed to national income grew markedly, as did exports.At the time the report was presented, BMWK State Secretary Anja Hajduk summarized, “The healthcare industry is and remains one of the largest branches of the German economy. In the Corona pandemic year 2021 … it reached a new high point at EUR 391.8 billion in gross value added (GVA). That corresponds to 12.1 percent of German GVA. The number of people employed in the industry increased by 300 thousand compared to 2019, putting the total number of employed in 2021 at 7.7 million.”
Analysts describe the industry as a motor for growth, prosperity and employment. They add that there has been a clear recovery following the “Corona dip” in 2020. What is more, exports rose in 2021 by 13 percent. In 2021, Germany sold EUR 158.1 billion in healthcare goods and services abroad, of which 92 percent (EUR. 145.5 billion) came from the industrial healthcare economy. The statistics also showed that every tenth euro earned from exports is attributable to the healthcare economy, meaning that it has a 9.4 percent share in foreign trade.
The GGR was developed to assess the healthcare’s contribution to the national economy as a whole. BMWK has been commissioning WifOR to compile and publish the figures annually since 2015. The account includes all goods and services related to health that are produced in Germany. The full publication can be downloaded in German from the BMWK website.
The BMWK set up the export initiative for the healthcare industry – HEALTH MADE IN GERMANY – over a decade ago. Since then, the program has been supporting international companies and organizations that are interested in establishing contact with potential German partners and suppliers.
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