Overview
- Germany Trade & Invest published the FDI Report on May 21–22, 2026 showing 1,564 foreign direct investment projects in 2025, a 9.3 percent fall from 2024 and a near 50 percent drop in expansion investment value.
- China became the largest single-country source of projects with 228 greenfield and expansion projects compared with 206 from the United States.
- Activity concentrated in digitalization, electronics and automation, and mobility and logistics, and almost one in five investors plan production or R&D spending in Germany.
- GTAI attributed the weaker investment value to international uncertainty such as tariffs and trade conflicts and noted Germany’s decline was moderate compared with an 18.1 percent fall across the EU and a 9.5 percent global drop.
- The federal government has stepped up outreach to secure higher-value projects, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s February 2026 visit to Beijing to court Chinese firms and efforts to cut bureaucratic hurdles to boost jobs and R&D investment.