Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie Annual wrap-up for 2018

Driving growth for the entire economy

For the fifth year in a row, the growth of Berlin's economy outpaced the national average. Current estimates put the capital city's growth at 2.7% for 2018. This positive development is also reflected in the results achieved by Berlin Partner for Business and Technology GmbH in 2018.8,810 new jobs are to be created in the 323 projects Berlin Partner has successfully accompanied to completion. The companies plan on investing about €600 million in Berlin as a place for business.

Ramona Pop, Berlin Senator for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises: "The numbers speak for themselves: Berlin is perceived both nationally and internationally as an attractive place to do business. The city provides a tightly networked environment for businesses, incubators, academic institutions, and investors giving it invaluable advantages for innovative ventures. With Berlin Partner, we have a economic development agency that keeps in touch with all these actors, providing advice, supporting networks, initiating joint projects, and actively marketing the advantages of Berlin. Investors are placing a lot of confidence in Berlin. We must continue to work together to keep it that way."

The success of Berlin is attracting talent, entrepreneurs, and investors from Germany, Europe, and around the world. Start-ups in the German capital received €2.64 billion in funding in 247 rounds of financing last year¹ , making Berlin once again Germany's start-up capital. This means that more than 50% of start-up financing in Germany in 2018 was invested in Berlin companies. Berlin Partner brought 113 companies to Berlin in 2018, once again an increase from the previous year. A record 589 people also received residence permits through the Business Immigration Service last year. 

Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing Director, Berlin Partner: "All of this shows that Berlin enjoys a very good reputation worldwide. Abroad, Berlin is associated with cosmopolitanism, a high quality of life, creativity, and freedom. Since 2008, our presentations in such cities as New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Los Angeles have helped shape the international perception of Berlin as a livable city and future-oriented business location offering many opportunities. The figures presented in our annual report are impressive proof of the continuing success of Berlin's entrepreneurs."

Berlin continues to be a magnet for professionals coming from abroad. The number of residence permits issued through the Business Immigration Service (BIS) rose to 589, a 15% increase over the previous year. Since the service moved to the Ludwig Erhard Haus in 2017, more than 1,000 companies have registered. 318 companies, approx. 38% more than 2016 (before the move), received support for visa and residence issues for their managers, skilled workers, and their families.

So Berlin is also the capital for skilled worker immigration. "Every week, 900 new jobs are created in Berlin," says Bernd Becking, head of the Berlin-Brandenburg Directorate of the Federal Employment Agency. ² He expects 45,000 additional jobs with social insurance benefits to be created in 2019. In 2018, the number of workers in the capital increased by 53,000 to 1.51 million. With employment growth of 3.7%, the state of Berlin was in the lead nationwide, followed by the states of Bavaria (+2.5%) and Hesse (+2.4%). The regional directorate estimates that some 216,000 new jobs have been created in Berlin from 2014 to 2018, 103,000 (47.7%) of which are for highly qualified workers. During the same period, 36,102 new jobs were created by Berlin Partner projects, making up more than one third of the total growth in highly qualified jobs.

This also shows that the projects supported by Berlin Partner provide important economic stimulus for the entire Berlin economy. According to the calculations of the economists at Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB), almost three percent of the total private investment in Berlin can be attributed to investments by companies advised by Berlin Partner. In addition, the primary investment and employment effects create further indirect, but equally relevant macroeconomic effects. Using a regional economic model, the IBB economists have examined how the additional investment and employment effects as well as the third-party funds raised in Berlin Partner projects will impact the overall performance of the Berlin economy in the medium term. 

They estimate that the gross domestic product will increase by a total of €1.6 billion between 2018 and 2020; it has already posted growth of €700 million in the first year of investment. In conjunction with the investments of companies advised by Berlin Partner, the newly created 8,810 jobs will in turn create further employment effects in both upstream and downstream industries. For example, the construction and real estate industries are benefiting considerably, especially because new companies need commercial space and many of the newly created jobs are drawing people to move to Berlin, increasing demand on the housing market. In addition, additional jobs are being created, above all in personnel-intensive, company-related service sectors, in the manufacturing sector, but also in retail and public facilities. In this way, another 4,000 additional jobs will be created within three years. 

Further information and graphics about the results delivered by Berlin Partner in 2018 can be found <link en/press/ - - "Öffnet internen Link im aktuellen Fenster">here</link>.

1 Source: EY Start-up-Barometer Deutschland, January 2019

2 Source: BILD.de / Berlin-Brandenburg Regional Directorate of the Federal Employment Agency

^{Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie – Working for growth!
Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie is Berlin's service provider for growth and innovation. Berlin Partner provides services to businesses and investors interested in coming to Berlin and with subsequent development at their new location. The experts at Berlin Partner furnish information on sources of funding, advice on searching for suitable locations or qualified personnel and network with partners working in the sciences. As a unique public-private partnership, Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie receives backing from both the State of Berlin and more than 270 companies committed to the city's growth. Berlin Partner is also responsible for marketing the German capital to the world, for example with the successful “be Berlin” campaign.}