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Jan Büchel / Marc Scheufen / Barbara Engels Expertise 16. January 2025 Digitalisation Index 2024: Digitalisation of the economy in Germany

The Digitalisation Index 2024 shows that the German economy has become around 14 percent more digital in the last five years. However, despite this progress, key challenges remain: The East has not been able to escape its role as the digitalisation bottom performer in the past five years.

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Digitalisation of the economy in Germany
Jan Büchel / Marc Scheufen / Barbara Engels Expertise 16. January 2025

Digitalisation Index 2024: Digitalisation of the economy in Germany

Digitalisation Index results in the project „Development and Measurement of the Digitalisation of the Economy in Germany”m Standort Deutschland“

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

The Digitalisation Index 2024 shows that the German economy has become around 14 percent more digital in the last five years. However, despite this progress, key challenges remain: The East has not been able to escape its role as the digitalisation bottom performer in the past five years.

Rural areas are still lagging behind the cities. There are still clear differences in digitalisation within the industry groups, which cannot be attributed solely to differences in the digitalisation capability of products and business models, for example. The digitalisation challenges in Germany have not been resolved in the past five years – although five years is a small eternity compared to the speed of current technological progress. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that companies have become significantly more digital, especially from 2023 to 2024 – even though the German economy has had to endure severe crises.

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To Summary
Digitalisation of the economy in Germany
Jan Büchel / Marc Scheufen / Barbara Engels Expertise 16. January 2025

Digitalisation Index 2024: Digitalisation of the economy in Germany

Digitalisation Index results in the project „Development and Measurement of the Digitalisation of the Economy in Germany”m Standort Deutschland“

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

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Jan Büchel / Marc Scheufen / Barbara Engels Expertise 16. January 2025

Digitalisation Index 2024: Digitalisation of the economy in Germany

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Männlicher Programmierer, der zu Hause in seinem Heimbüro arbeitet
Andrea Hammermann / Roschan Monsef / Oliver Stettes IW-Trends No. 4 22. January 2025

More Productive with AI?: How Companies and Employees Assess its Effects on Productivity

Almost one third of all employees in Germany have had at least one new artificial intelligence (AI) application introduced at their workplace since 2022. AI is most commonly used for automatic data processing and text recognition.

IW

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Armin Mertens / Marc Scheufen in European Journal of Law and Economics External Publication 29. May 2024

Intellectual property and fourth industrial revolution technologies: how the patent system is shaping the future in the data-driven economy

Using the classification system from the European Patent Office (EPO), we identify almost 600,000 patent applications for fourth industrial revolution technologies from 1986 to 2015.

IW

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