Rising costs for energy and raw materials are making Germany less attractive as a location for US companies. In a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany (AmCham Germany) among the largest US companies in Germany, the rating fell from 1.9 last year to 2.4 now. For the coming year, Germany as a business location received a grade of 2.7 from US companies.
“The trend in the location evaluation shows that the economic framework must be improved by politicians so that Germany remains competitive in the future,” warned the President of AmCham Germany, Simone Menne, on Thursday in Kronberg. “In particular, energy prices must be brought to a level that enables companies to compete internationally.”
The total turnover of the 50 largest US companies in Germany increased after the pandemic break from 2020 to 2021 by almost 15 percent to 218.4 billion euros, as AmCham calculated. According to the information, the number of employees at these companies in Germany remained almost unchanged at 275,000 compared to the previous year.
The list presented by AmCham of the top-selling US companies in Germany in 2021 is led by the mail-order company Amazon (around EUR 31.6 billion in revenue), like a year earlier. The carmaker Ford (14.2 billion euros) and the oil company ExxonMobil (9.5 billion euros) follow in the other places. According to the information, the largest US employer in this country is the fast food chain McDonald’s with an estimated 54,900 employees, followed by Amazon (28,000), the parcel service UPS (21,000) and the car manufacturer Ford (20,000).(dpa)