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Federal State Ranking Brandenburg-Berlin is most dynamic, Bavaria has highest economic standard
The region of Brandenburg-Berlin has undergone a particularly good economic development in the time between 2007 and 2010. Baden-Württemberg was hit hard by the crisis and ranks at the bottom of the comparison of economic dynamics. The ninth Federal State Ranking was conducted by the Initiative for a New Social Market Economy (INSM) and the magazine WirtschaftsWoche (WiWo) and was published on Friday, 24th of June 2011 in Berlin. Looking at the absolute economic levels though, Baden-Württemberg retains its position among the three leading federal states. In 2011 the leader of this group is Bavaria. Baden-Württemberg comes in second and thus beats Hamburg which came in third.
Roughly one hundred indicators make up the Federal State Ranking. Among them are such factors as GDP, productivity, jobless rate, job supply and high skilled labor. In terms of the compatibility of job and family the daycare center quota also plays an important role.
“Rustically healthy”, this is how chief executive of the INSM Hubertus Pellengahr views Bavaria, the federal state with the highest economic standard in the ranking. According to Pellengahr, Bavaria continues to be innovative – and with 104 patents per 100.000 citizens it only has to yield to Baden-Württemberg. Bavaria scores high in terms of security (lowest number of reported felonies) and with the lowest ALG II-quota. “With an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, the south has achieved what we would like to see in all of Germany: full employment. In Bavaria, this development is mainly due to an extremely modern and export oriented industry”, says Pellengahr. The comparison of economic dynamics also shows that Bavaria was able to handle the crisis better than Baden-Württemberg. For this comparison, Bavaria occupies rank 11 while Baden-Württemberg comes in last.
Because of its specialization on industrial and vehicle construction, Baden-Württemberg was hit particularly hard by the drop in exports in 2008 and 2009. Bavaria proved more resilient against such pressures due to its diversified sectoral mix. Among other things, Bavaria is equipped with medical and biotechnology as well as the logistics of Munich Airport and knowledge intensive services.
Despite its drop in the comparison of economic dynamics, Baden-Württemberg was able to retain rank two in the comparison of absolute economic achievements. The federal state is ranked at the very top of many crucial indicators of overall economic standard such as the unemployment rate, the supply of labor and also boasts the most patents in relation to its number of inhabitants. “In Baden-Württemberg, the automotive industry is an even stronger motor of prosperity and employment than in Bavaria. To keep Baden-Württemberg on its pathway of growth one must produce more cars and not less”, says INSM chief executive Hubertus Pellengahr.
In the economic standard ranking Hamburg came in third; in the comparison of economic dynamics it occupies rank seven and is hence the most dynamic federal state among the so-called old federal states which consist of the provinces of West Germany. In particular, Hamburg scores as a haven for the service and media sector and features the most corporate head offices nationwide. Furthermore Hamburg proved itself to be resilient against the massive transshipment drop of its harbor which was caused by the recent economic crisis. “Hamburg has mastered the structural change. The harbor city proves all those doubters wrong who wish to portray the economic success of the south and the southwest as an immovable north-south divide” says Henning Krumrey, vice editor-in-chief of the WiWo. Furthermore, Krumrey notes that “like in the previous year, the comparison of economic dynamics shows that all eastern federal states rank at the top – the upward trend of the east has thus turned into a stable trend”. Nevertheless the comparison of economic standards also shows that the economic performance of the east continues to show clear deficiencies. This is also true for the available income.
The east needs more trade and more industry in order to keep its chance for equal living conditions and further improvements on the labor market. Even more so since there is a very real time pressure which is due to the fact that the maximum aid rate of the EU program for structural advancement is about to expire. “In this case”, says Henning Krumrey “the east has to be attractive for investors by itself”.
The region of Brandenburg-Berlin demonstrated particular dynamism. For one thing, the winner of the dynamics ranking Brandenburg profits from the rapid economic upsurge of Berlin. However, biotech companies and the Hasso-Plattner Institute are but a few examples of what the Land around Potsdam has to offer on its own.
A further driver of the upward trend is the major airport project Großflughafen Berlin-Brandenburg. Brandenburg especially scored on the job market. Nowhere else did the availability of jobs develop so positively between 2007 and 2010.
Berlin seems to be on its way to also become an economic world city. Between 2007 and 2010 its economic performance rose by six percent – a stronger growth than in any other federal state. Nowhere else did the export ratio climb so sharp. The number of employed persons rose in an equal fashion. However, the data from the labor market also shows that the upswing of the new Berlin does not reach everybody equally.
In addition to the Federal State Ranking 2011, INSM and WiWo also published an index for job chances. The aim of the index is to determine which federal states are forerunners on the path towards post-crisis full employment – and which are not. For this index, scientists examined the May quotas of unemployment, youth unemployment and elderly unemployment as well as the development of the unemployment rates of a federal state in relation to the previous year. Furthermore, the so-called Jobchancen-Index features a measurement of the ratio of unemployed people to the availability of open positions for each federal state and how this ratio changed in relation to May 2010.
Currently, job chances are best in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and the Saarland. Relatively speaking, they are worst in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. Hubertus Pellengahr: “Especially the performance of Berlin in this index for job chances shows how important it is to lead problematic groups back into employment. Since the upswing has greatly affected the labor market, the opportunity for this is now. This will be the great challenge for whoever will be the next mayor of Berlin. In a way this is true for everybody who bears political responsibility nationwide. The path to full employment is open. We only have to walk it.”
