BERLIN / LONDON (IT BOLTWISE) – The economic uncertainty in Germany is leading to a decline in companies’ willingness to invest. But there is hope: slight improvements are expected for 2026, as current forecasts from the Ifo Institute show. The investment index shows a reduction, but the outlook for the future could be more optimistic.
Today’s daily deals at Amazon! ˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗
The economic uncertainty in Germany has significantly affected companies’ willingness to invest. According to the semi-annual index of investment expectations from the Munich Ifo Institute, this fell by 11.6 points to minus 9.2 points in November. This means that the proportion of companies that want to reduce their investments is 9.2 percentage points higher than that of companies that want to increase their investments.
Lara Zarges, an expert at the Ifo Institute, emphasizes that the profound structural change and Germany’s insufficient attractiveness as a business location are dampening the willingness to invest. Added to this is the ongoing uncertainty about the economic policy framework, which is contributing to restraint.
However, a look into the future shows hope for 2026. The investment balance could then be minus 3.1 points, which indicates a slight improvement. Nevertheless, companies that want to cut investments continue to predominate, although not as much. This development could be due to a more optimistic view of the new year.
The investment forecasts are particularly negative in the industrial sector, which has a balance of minus 17.3 points this year. In March this value was still at plus 4 points. The situation is particularly drastic in vehicle construction, with a balance of minus 36.7 points. In the chemical industry, the balance also fell from plus 21 to minus 9.4 points.
The industry remains skeptical for the coming year with a balance of minus 6.9 points, but no longer as strongly as for 2025. An exception is the chemical industry, whose prospects for 2026 at minus 15.8 are worse than in the current year. Vehicle construction could expect a minimal decline in the investment balance to minus 1.3 points.
In comparison, the service industry remains somewhat less affected. Their investment plans fell from 4.9 to minus 3.1 points from March to November. For 2026, companies planning to increase their investments even outnumber them by 1.1 percentage points. There is little movement in trading at a low level: the balance fell by 3 points to minus 13.1 for the current year; for the coming year it is minus 9.7.
Order an Amazon credit card without an annual fee with a credit limit of 2,000 euros!
Bestseller No. 1 ᵃ⤻ᶻ “KI Gadgets”
Bestseller No. 2 ᵃ⤻ᶻ “KI Gadgets”
Bestseller No. 3 ᵃ⤻ᶻ “KI Gadgets”
Bestseller No. 4 ᵃ⤻ᶻ «KI Gadgets»
Bestseller No. 5 ᵃ⤻ᶻ “KI Gadgets”
Please send any additions and information to the editorial team by email to de-info[at]it-boltwise.de. Since we cannot rule out AI hallucinations, which rarely occur with AI-generated news and content, we ask you to contact us via email and inform us in the event of false statements or misinformation. Please don’t forget to include the article headline in the email: “Economic crisis dampens investments: Glimmer of hope for 2026”.