Central and Eastern Europe increasingly important for German companies

63 per cent of companies expect the region to contribute even more to their global turnover in the next five years. Central and Eastern Europe is continuing to develop structurally. The region is moving away from its role as a pure production location and establishing itself as an integrated production, procurement and sales area. This development is being driven by a population of around 155 million, rising purchasing power, expected economic growth of almost three per cent on average in 2026 and the ongoing integration into the European single market and the eurozone. Poland in particular is further expanding its importance as an economic anchor in Central and Eastern Europe. The German economy also sees great opportunities in Ukraine, despite the ongoing war.

At the same time, competition is increasing: 16 per cent of the companies surveyed are experiencing growing competition from Chinese companies, which are increasingly investing in and exporting to Central and Eastern Europe as a result of the US tariffs.

German companies assess their current situation in Central and Eastern Europe as predominantly positive: 47 per cent rate their business situation as „good“ or „very good“, a further 39 per cent as „stable“. Three quarters expect their business development to improve over the next five years, while only five per cent expect it to deteriorate. 61 per cent want to create additional jobs and only three per cent expect the number of employees to fall - a clear signal in favour of expansion plans despite existing risks.

A regional comparison reveals several key factors that influence the location – both positively and negatively:

• Slightly more than half of the companies (53 per cent) see the sales market as the greatest advantage, which corresponds to an increase of 13 percentage points compared to the previous year's survey.
• 38 per cent of companies see low labour costs as a major advantage, five percentage points more than in the previous year.
• Only 28 per cent of companies still cite the availability of labour as an advantage, which corresponds to a decrease of nine percentage points.
• 60 per cent of companies see political and security risks as the region's biggest disadvantage (compared to 67 per cent in the previous year).
• 47 per cent of companies see corruption as a challenge - a significant increase of nine points.

In addition, the Ukraine war has no impact on investment decisions in Central and Eastern Europe for 45 per cent of respondents; the US‑customs policy also has no impact on their regional business for 53 per cent.

Every fourth company involved in the survey (26 per cent) is considering relocating production activities from Germany to the region (2025: 25 per cent), but only four per cent have concrete plans for the next twelve months. In contrast, 70 per cent rule out relocating production in the short term.

41 per cent of respondents are planning to invest in Central and Eastern Europe within the next twelve months (2025: 42 per cent). This figure rises to 55 per cent over the next five years. Around a third of these companies (32 per cent) expect project volumes of more than five million euros.

Poland is also the most attractive investment location in 2026: more than half (56 per cent) of those surveyed who want to invest up to five million euros or more in the short to medium term see the country in first place. Ukraine follows with 43 per cent. Romania and the Czech Republic are in equal second place with 35 per cent each.

In addition to Poland (+11 percentage points), the Czech Republic (+12 percentage points) and Ukraine (+8 percentage points) are the biggest climbers as investment locations compared to the previous year's survey; Serbia (-18 percentage points), Hungary (-16 percentage points) and Romania (-10 percentage points), on the other hand, fall significantly in terms of investment intentions.