A study points to additional value creation of 5300 euros per head in Germany through digitalisation

Up to 425 billion euros of additional value creation potential can be the result for Germany if the digital transformation of industry is guided along the right tracks. Over the next ten years that amounts to around an extra 5300 euros per head of the population. This figure emerges from a new study commissioned by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and carried out by the consultancy firm Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. At the CeBIT fair in Hanover BDI President Ulrich Grillo handed over the study to Günther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner with responsibility for the digital economy and society.

“By 2025 Europe could even achieve an increase of 1.25 trillion euros of gross industrial value creation,” said Grillo drawing on further results of the study. Summing up, the BDI President stated that “digitalisation offers the chance of releasing enormous economic potential, provided that those in politics and industry take the right decisions at once – and implement them speedily.” Should this not happen, the study indicates that a loss of over 600 billion euros in foregone value creation threatens. The politicians in Berlin and Brussels must also step up the pace in the expansion of broadband. Grillo stated, “Industry demands the rapid realisation of the digital single market with uniform rules. Europe’s politicians and entrepreneurs must act speedily and in concert in order to secure our lead over our competitors.”

The BDI had commissioned Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to conduct an investigation covering the whole of Europe into the changes in industrial value creation structures resulting from digital trends. In the process questionnaires were sent out to more than 300 medium-sized enterprises and 30 one-on-one interviews were held with key decision-makers from DAX-listed companies.