Munich as a business hub – key data

Munich and the surrounding area are one of Europe's most dynamic business regions. The city's enviable geographic location combines with optimal conditions for the corporate sector. And both factors are ideally complemented by an unrivaled array of leisure and recreation facilities. All of which makes Munich one of the foremost business hubs in both Germany and Europe.
 

• Population
• Economic strength 
• Employment 
• Purchasing power 
• Structure of business 
• Real estate market 
• Infrastructure 

 

Population

Some 1.37 million people live in Munich. At 23 percent, the immigrant population is higher than the national average – as in all of Europe's flourishing cities. About 41 percent of the city's resident foreigners are European Union nationals. Immigration and a slight increase in the birth rate are contributing to an ongoing positive demographic trend.
 

Economic strength

Munich and the surrounding region form the focal point of business activity in the Free State of Bavaria. 21 percent of the Bavarian population lives in the Munich region, where it generates 30 percent of Bavaria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2008, this figure totaled € 73.8 billion for Munich itself and € 129,8 billion for the region as a whole. The service sector is the region's dominant industry, accounting for some 75 percent of Munich's GDP (against a figure of 68 percent for the whole of Bavaria). The manufacturing industry contributes just under 25 percent to Munich's GDP.
 

Employment

On June 30, 2009, a total of 1,135,544 people in the Munich region held employment subject to statutory social insurance. This figure reflects a 0.3 percent increase year on year, despite the fact that overall employment in Germany as a whole and in Bavaria dropped by 0.5 percent in the same period due to the recession.
In 2009, the City of Munich was actually able to increase its employment figures by 0.5 percent (the equivalent of 3,377 new jobs subject to statutory social insurance). Munich's unemployment rate rose only modestly from 4.4 percent in 2008 to 5.0 percent in 2009. Expressed in absolute terms, this means that the average jobless number for the Munich Employment Agency's catchment area rose by 6,954 to 59,362.
 
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Purchasing power

Munich continues to boast the greatest purchasing power of all German cities. Purchasing power in the Bavarian capital is 32 percent above the national average and considerably higher than the figure for all other German cities. In 2009, average purchasing power per capita was €25,237. Moreover, Munich is also surrounded by three of the five administrative districts with the highest purchasing power in Germany (Starnberg, Ebersberg and the Munich district).
 

Structure of business

Munich's economic strength is rooted in the diversity of its business structure. A healthy mix of global players, a vibrant SME sector and an excellently qualified labor force give the region its distinctive, upbeat flavor. Companies representing all sectors of business and industry operate in Munich. Each individual sector plays a vital part in sustaining Munich's economic health and vitality. Again and again, a variety of business institutes put the Munich region out in front in location ranking tables.
 
Industries and clusters of special significance to Munich

• Service sector
• High-tech
• Media
• Finance
• Automotive
• Biotechnology and life sciences
• Science and research
• Tourism
• Trade and retail

 
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Real estate market

Office property market
Following the severe recession, only 542,000 m2 changed hands on Munich's office property market in 2009, down 31 percent year on year. In spite of this negative development, Munich remains well ahead of all Germany's major office property venues. Frankfurt/Main follows at a considerable distance with 422,000 m2. At 8.6 percent, Munich's vacancy rate was 3.7 percentage points higher than in the previous year. The figure for the core of the city was 7.5 percent. Average office rents declined from €16.90/m2 to €16.60/m2. No further price erosion is expected in 2010.
 
Housing market
The Munich housing market follows a roughly ten-year cycle. The last round of rent increases came in 2001/2002. Rents edged down in the years that followed but have been on the rise again since 2006. This pattern explains why first-time rents rebounded, albeit modestly, to €13.00/m2 in 2009.
 
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Infrastructure

Munich boasts an impressive, robust infrastructure that is constantly being developed and expanded. The city is served by eight freeways, a tightly meshed network of mass transit trains, streetcars and buses and an international airport that is Munich's northerly "gateway to the world". The Bavarian capital is an important hub for national and international rail freight and passenger transport.
 
Airport
In just a few short years, Munich Airport has cornered its slot in Europe's top ten. Despite the economic crisis, the airport hosted 397,000 starts and landings and handled 32.7 million passengers in 2009. Planning for construction of a third runway is currently underway.
 
Road network
The eight freeways that fan out from the city in all directions were recently complemented by a new tangent that now links the Stuttgart freeway (A8) to the Lindau freeway (A96) to the west of Munich.
 
Local passenger transport
The mass transit system has undergone major construction work in recent years. The main line under the city center has been made ready to handle five lines running at 10-minute intervals. The U1 subway line was extended.
 
(Data 8.2010)
 
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More information

• Munich's Annual Business Report 2010 (PDF file)
• Munich Means Business – Facts and Figures 2010 
• Frequently Asked Questions (pdf)
• Munich Fact Sheet (pdf)
• M-Statistics: Business and the Labor Market

 

Contact

Department of Labor and Economic Development
General Economic and Employment Issues
Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße 15
80331 München
Email: eva.schweigard@muenchen.de