Overview
- Small and medium-sized firms employed about 33 million people in 2024, adding roughly 207,000 jobs, according to the KfW analysis.
- Job creation slowed sharply compared with the prior year, when nearly half a million positions were added.
- Only 39% of firms undertook projects in 2024—about 1.51 million companies—keeping investment activity near an all-time low.
- Nominal investment rose slightly to around €221 billion, yet KfW calculates a renewed decline in real terms after adjusting for prices.
- KfW cites high energy, material and labor costs, a weak economy, U.S. trade-policy uncertainty and heavy red tape—consuming about 7% of work time—as key drags, with chief economist Dirk Schumacher calling for action.