German economic crisis deepens. Self-employed report lack of orders

Brussels – The economic crisis in Germany is deepening. According to the latest survey by the ifo Institute, half of the self-employed in Germany surveyed (50.5 percent) complained of too few orders in January, up from 48.5 percent in October.

The percentage among the self-employed is significantly higher than the 40.2 percent share of the economy as a whole. “The economic dry spell for the self-employed has intensified,” says ifo expert Katrin Demmelhuber. “The lack of orders remains a core problem.”

The economic climate for the self-employed and micro-enterprises fell to a new low earlier this year. The Jimdo-Ifo economic climate index for the self-employed fell to minus 24.9 points (non-seasonally adjusted balance), down from minus 23.4 points (non-seasonally adjusted) in December. “The economic decline among the self-employed is continuing,” Demmelhuber added. The assessment of current business was considerably more negative. Although expectations improved slightly, they remain at a very low level.

The ifo Institute has been publishing the Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index for solo self-employed persons and micro-enterprises (with fewer than nine employees) since August 2021. As in the composite index, all sectors of the economy are taken into account. However, its main focus is the service sector.