Innovation Atlas 2023: The innovative strength of the German regions

Even when corrected for differences in settlement structure, the large lead of Germany’s southernmost states remains very pronounced, and in a ranking of economic areas highly innovative regions in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria dominate. The only positive exception to the comprehensive weakness of innovation in eastern Germany is the economic area of Jena. Over the course of time, the differences between the regions’ innovative strength have further increased and there is a real danger that rural regions in particular could fall irretrievably behind. In such areas, low levels of research and difficulty recruiting the staff needed for innovation go hand in hand with a dearth of innovative start-ups and patent applications and slow progress towards Industry 4.0. Two-thirds of all regions fail to meet the target of investing 2 percent of their gross value added in commercial research and development (R&D). Having more than halved its contribution to German business’s investment in R&D, from 6.9 per cent in 2000 to 3.2 per cent most recently, the state must share responsibility for this state of affairs. Indeed, it is increasingly leaving businesses to their own devices in their pursuit of innovation.