The inscription 'Internet as a challenge' in a wagon of exhibition train "Science Express" in Oldenburg. (picture alliance/Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa)
The digital sector in Germany sees a ray of hope in the coronavirus crisis. This is the conclusion of the latest economic report by the digital association Bitkom, which was published in Berlin on Monday. However, the digital economy also had to wave goodbye to its original growth target of plus 1.6 percent for the current year. The association now expects a decline in sales of 3.3 percent to 163.5 billion euros.
However, the crisis will be even more painful for all the sectors combined. The German Council of Economic Experts recently calculated a 6.5 percent drop in economic output for the current year. Bitkom also assumes that the digital sector will recover quickly. In 2021, the digital sector will grow by 2 percent to 166.7 billion euros, it predicts. "Hopes are high that the low point of the coronavirus crisis has been overcome and that the general digitalization push will really give the industry a boost again," said Bitkom President Achim Berg.
The telecommunications industry has proved to be a revenue driver. While the information technology sector has a whole is expected to see a minus of 5.6 percent in 2020, the telecommunications sector has even grown slightly during the crisis, by 0.4 percent. The boom in the purchase of laptops and video cameras by those working from home, on the other hand, could not compensate for the slump in semiconductors in the IT market.
Only China has been able to see growth this year in its ITC sector. It will grow by 1.5 per cent and thus achieve a global market share of 10.9 per cent. This puts China in second place behind the United States (35.2 percent). However, the market in the US will shrink by 1.9 percent this year. Germany is in fifth place behind Japan (6.4 percent share) and Great Britain (4.3 percent) with a 4.0 percent market share, and ahead of India (2.0 percent).
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