Overview
- An EY analysis published May 21 found that announced foreign-investor projects in Germany fell 10% in 2025 to 548, marking an eighth consecutive annual decline and the lowest count since 2009.
- Europe-wide announced projects totaled 5,026 in 2025, down 7%, with France reporting 852 projects and the UK 730 despite both countries also seeing year-on-year drops.
- The number of projects by German companies abroad plunged 24% to 484 in 2025, the sharpest fall in EY's series since it began tracking in 2006.
- Henrik Ahlers, head of EY Germany, called the trend an "alarm signal" and pointed to high tax burdens, costly labor and energy, and slow, complex bureaucracy as reasons investors are turning elsewhere.
- EY's tally counts announced site openings and expansions but not investment amounts or mergers, so the drop could cut new local jobs and shift firms toward acquisitions unless policy changes restore competitiveness.