Indicators for the competitiveness of the German economy - German manufacturers assess their competitive positions

German manufacturing firms estimate their competitiveness as "high", on the whole. This is especially true for a number of product groups in mechanical and electrical engineering. This overall positive result may be largely due to purchases from foreign enterprises in low wage countries and to shifting whole production stages to own companies abroad. The downside of this development is the considerable job losses in German plant locations. In the services sector, international competitiveness is considerably more unfavourable. In areas where international exchanges are commonplace, German service providers have concentrated too much on domestic business.