Business debacle in Saxony-Anhalt: Mittelstand is in the crisis!

Business debacle in Saxony-Anhalt: Mittelstand is in the crisis!

in Saxony-Anhalt remains persistent, as the latest survey data from Creditreform and the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH) show. According to a survey in which 410 companies took part, only 49.5 percent of the companies rate the situation as "very good" or "good" - a small decline compared to the previous year than it was 51 percent. On the other hand, 9.4 percent of the respondents classified the business situation as "poor" or "insufficient". Martin Plath, Managing Director of Creditreform, indicates a recession that has been going on for two years and speaks of a necessary, but not yet in sight.

The pressure on industry is immense. Companies suffer from dwindling demand, geopolitical uncertainties and increasing costs. 30.7 percent of the respondents report sales declines, while only 23.6 percent were able to win sales. This development is particularly evident in the dealer and service sector, where the weakness of private consumption is noticeable. The situation is primarily due to the relocation of the distribution channels to the online business, which heavily contains stationary trade in Saxony-Anhalt, as Axel Lindner from IWH emphasizes.

difficult business expectations

Another damper is the pessimistic business expectations of medium -sized companies. Only 20.9 percent expect sales increases in the near future, while 25.7 percent expect financial declines. This uncertainties mean that the willingness to invest in the middle class is below the average of the past ten years: only 46.6 percent plan investments, in 2024 it was 52.3 percent. It looks like many companies have pulled the ripcord and plan to leave their staff unchanged. 75.9 percent of companies do not want to create new jobs, while 23.2 percent report a decline in the number of employees, and only 19.1 percent have increased the workforce.

The declines are not only limited to the trade; All economic areas are affected, with the exception of the service sector. The increase in companies with a low equity ratio, which has increased from 25.5 percent to 28.1 percent, is also worrying. In addition, 10.3 percent of the companies fear that they cannot meet their financial obligations. Martin Plath draws attention to the fact that the legal requirements also affect companies. Over 77 percent of the respondents reported on increased legal requirements and an additional burden of bureaucracy.

bureaucracy and cost pressure

The IHK business climate index from the end of 2024 show with minus 12.2 points that the situation is still tense. The companies additionally burden high energy and wage costs. The Presidents of the IHK Halle-Dessau and the Magdeburg IHK are unanimous to a reform agent from the federal government to combat cost disadvantages, with a clear focus on reducing energy prices and digitalization of the administrative processes. After all, the companies spend a fifth of their working hours with bureaucratic requirements, which significantly restricts competitiveness.

summarized, the current situation in Saxony-Anhalt shows that the middle class is still in reverse. The challenges of recent years have not yet been overcome, and an economic improvement is not in sight. The potential for changes lies in the hands of politics, which now has to act urgently.

More details can be found in the articles of news-heute.net and Hallespektrum.de .