How much does the condition of the transport infrastructure affect companies in Germany?

For the fourth time, the German Economic Institute surveyed companies in Germany on whether their general business activities were regularly affected by infrastructure deficiencies and, if so, which infrastructure networks were the source of their problems.

For the fourth time, the German Economic Institute surveyed companies in Germany on whether their general business activities were regularly affected by infrastructure deficiencies and, if so, which infrastructure networks were the source of their problems.

The results show a further deterioration in the rating compared to the previous survey from summer 2022. A good 84 percent of the companies surveyed considered their business activities regularly hampered by infrastructure deficiencies in spring 2025. This represents an increase of almost 5 percentage points compared to 2022. The deterioration is evident across all company sizes, but is most pronounced among small companies, at around 7 percentage points. Road and rail caused the greatest problems. In the current survey, 92 percent of the affected companies and 77 percent of all participating companies stated that their general business activities were hampered by deficiencies in road infrastructure. The rating of rail transport deteriorated particularly sharply. In the current survey, 71 percent of the affected companies and 60 percent of all participating companies considered this a location problem. A comparison with other sources on the situation in rail transport makes the results appear plausible, even in their drastic nature.