1. 2018 OECD ECONOMIC
SURVEY OF GERMANY
Sustaining strong and inclusive growth
Berlin, June 12th 2018
@OECD
@OECDeconomy
http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-germany.htm
2. 2
Wellbeing is high
Source: OECD (2017), OECD Better Life Index, www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org.
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
Income and wealth
Jobs and earnings
Housing
Work and life
balance
Health status
Education and
skills
Social connections
Civic engagement
and governance
Environmental
quality
Personal security
Subjective well-
being
OECD Better Life Index, 2017
Germany OECD
4. 4
Relative poverty is low
Note: The poverty line is 60% of median household income. Household income is adjusted to take into account household size.
Source: OECD (2018), OECD Social and Welfare Statistics (database).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
CZE
ISL
DNK
SVK
FIN
NOR
FRA
AUT
NLD
SVN
LUX
DEU
HUN
CHE
SWE
IRL
BEL
GBR
POL
OECD
PRT
KOR
NZL
ITA
AUS
GRC
CAN
JPN
EST
ESP
LVA
CHL
USA
MEX
TUR
ISR
Population with disposable income below the poverty line,
% of population, 2015
5. 5
Unemployment is at a record low
Source: Statistisches Bundesamt.
2
4
6
8
10
12
2
4
6
8
10
12
1991Q1
1992Q1
1993Q1
1994Q1
1995Q1
1996Q1
1997Q1
1998Q1
1999Q1
2000Q1
2001Q1
2002Q1
2003Q1
2004Q1
2005Q1
2006Q1
2007Q1
2008Q1
2009Q1
2010Q1
2011Q1
2012Q1
2013Q1
2014Q1
2015Q1
2016Q1
2017Q1
2018Q1
Unemployment rate,
% of labour force
6. 6
Most German youth are in employment,
education or training
Source: OECD (2017), "Education at a glance: Educational attainment and labour-force status", OECD Education
Statistics (database).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
ISL
LUX
NLD
DNK
SWE
CHE
NOR
DEU
JPN
AUT
NZL
AUS
SVN
CZE
BEL
CAN
GBR
FIN
ISR
OECD
USA
LVA
EST
POL
HUN
PRT
SVK
IRL
FRA
CHL
ESP
MEX
GRC
ITA
TUR
Youth not in employment, education or training (NEET),
% of 15-29 year-olds, 2016
7. 7
Wage growth remains moderate
-0.5
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
-0.5
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
2010Q1
2010Q3
2011Q1
2011Q3
2012Q1
2012Q3
2013Q1
2013Q3
2014Q1
2014Q3
2015Q1
2015Q3
2016Q1
2016Q3
2017Q1
2017Q3
2018Q1
Nominal wage growth and inflation
Year-on-year growth rates, %
Inflation Nominal wage rate
Note: Inflation is that of the Harmonised consumer price index (HICP).
Source: OECD (2018), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database).
8. 8
High corporate saving contributes to the
current account surplus
Source: OECD calculations based on OECD (2018), OECD National Accounts Statistics (database) and OECD (2018),
OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database ).
-4.0
-2.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
-4.0
-2.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Current account and saving-investment balance,
% of GDP
Current account balance Saving-investment balance of corporations
10. 10
Trend productivity growth has slowed
Note: Average annual growth in trend labour productivity.
Source: OECD (2018), "OECD Economic Outlook No. 102 (Edition 2017/2)", OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and
Projections (database).
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
DEU GBR JPN FRA CAN SWE USA
1996-2006 2006-16
Average annual rate of labour productivity growth,
11. 0
9
18
27
36
45
0
9
18
27
36
45
Total Low skilled Medium
skilled
High skilled Women Men
Employees earning low wage,
% of all employees
Germany EU
11
Many workers earn low wages
Note: employees earning low wage are those earning less than two thirds of the median gross hourly earnings.
Source: Eurostat (2018), Employment and working conditions (database).
12. 12
Highly educated women earn much less
than men
Source: OECD (2016), Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators.
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AUT
CAN
DEU
FRA
OECD
NLD
AUS
GBR
FIN
DNK
SWE
Women's earnings as % of men's earnings,
Tertiary education graduates, 2014
13. 13
CO2 emissions have fallen little in recent
years
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
CO2 emission,
tonnes per capita
Germany OECD
Note: Emission is production based.
Source: OECD (2018), Green Growth Indicators (database).
14. 14
Small particle emissions have not fallen
recently
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Mean annual concentration of PM2.5,
µg/m³
Germany OECD
Source: OECD (2018), Green Growth Indicators (database).
17. 17
Environmental tax revenue could be higher
0
1
2
3
4
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
MEX
USA
CAN
CHL
NZL
JPN
SVK
CHE
ESP
AUS
DEU
FRA
LUX
ISL
BEL
NOR
IRL
PRT
SWE
GBR
KOR
EST
HUN
CZE
GRC
FIN
AUT
ISR
NLD
TUR
ITA
SVN
DNK
Environmental tax revenue,
% of GDP, 2014
Source: OECD (2018), "OECD Instruments used for environmental policy", OECD Environment Statistics
(database).
18. 18
Expenditure on primary education is low
0
4
8
12
16
20
0
4
8
12
16
20
FRA
NZL
IRL
AUS
NLD
DEU
OECD
FIN
JPN
CAN
SVN
KOR
BEL
SWE
AUT
ISL
USA
GBR
DNK
NOR
CHE
LUX
Annual public expenditure in primary education,
Per student, USD thousand, PPPs, 2014
21.2
Source: OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators.
19. 19
Ageing related spending will increase
Source: European Commission (2015), "The 2015 ageing report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 28 EU
Member States (2013-2060)". Based on the reference scenario.
0
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
2020 2035 2060
%% Projections on ageing related spending,
% of GDP
Pensions, net Health care Long-term care
20. • Use fiscal leeway in a prudent manner, taking capacity constraints into
account, to lower the taxation of low wage earnings and to raise priority
spending on childcare, education and life-long learning as well as for low-
emission transport infrastructure.
• Index the legal pension age to life expectancy.
• Introduce spending reviews more broadly at the federal and Länder level
and use them to reallocate funding across broad spending fields.
More in the Key Policy Insights of the Economic Survey of Germany 2018
20
Key recommendations for fiscal policies
supporting steady inclusive growth
21. • Extend charging station infrastructure to promote electrification of road
transport.
• Develop congestion pricing.
• Remove regulatory hurdles to new low-emission urban transport services,
including ride-sharing.
More in the Key Policy Insights of the Economic Survey of Germany 2018
21
Key recommendations for boosting
green growth
23. 23
Technology diffusion has slowed
Multifactor productivity level of German firms,
index 2006 =100
Note:The Best performers are the top 5% firms with highest productivity within each 2-digit sector .
Source: OECD calculations based on ORBIS dataset.
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
A. Manufacturing
The rest Best performers
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
B. Services
The rest Best performers
24. 24
Small and medium sized firms lag behind in
productivity
Note: Large firms are firms with more than 250 employed persons.
Source: OECD calculations based on OECD (2017), Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2017.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
DEU DNK CHE SWE FRA ITA FIN ESP BEL AUT GBR NLD
Value added per person employed in SMEs,
% of the level of large firms, 2014
Small (20-49 persons) Medium (50-249 persons)
25. 25
Knowledge-based capital contributes little
to productivity growth
Source: OECD (2017), OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017: The digital transformation.
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
GBR
LUX
ITA
GRC
NOR
USA
ESP
DEU
PRT
NLD
EST
DNK
CZE
FIN
FRA
AUT
BEL
SWE
Contribution of KBC to labour productivity growth,
Percentage points, business sector, 2000-14
27. 27
Women’s entrepreneurship is low
Source: OECD (2017), Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2017.
0
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
NOR
JPN
DNK
SWE
EST
DEU
USA
IRL
ISL
SVN
LUX
FRA
HUN
LTU
AUT
FIN
ISR
LVA
CHE
BEL
GBR
TUR
ROU
OECD
SVK
PRT
CAN
ZAF
ESP
CZE
NLD
AUS
POL
NZL
KOR
ITA
BRA
GRC
CHL
MEX
The share of self-employed women,
% of total active women, 2016
29. 29
The personal costs of failed entrepreneurs
are high
Note: The subcomponent captures the stringency of the restrictiveness on the insolvency procedure on failed entrepreneurs,
including the length of discharge period.
Source: Adalet McGowan, M., D. Andrews and V. Millot (2017), "Insolvency regimes, zombie firms and capital reallocation", OECD
Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1399.
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
CAN
TUR
USA
AUS
CHL
GBR
JPN
LTU
RUS
AUT
CHE
CRI
DNK
ESP
FIN
FRA
GRC
IRL
ITA
LVA
MEX
NOR
NZL
SVK
SVN
BEL
DEU
EST
HUN
ISR
KOR
NLD
POL
PRT
SWE
CZE
The subcomponent of the OECD insolvency indicator on
personal costs of failed entrepreneurs, from least (0) to most (1)
restrictive, 2016
30. 30
Low use of e-government raises costs of
start-ups
0
20
40
60
80
0
20
40
60
80
JPN
MEX
ITA
CHL
CZE
SVK
DEU
SVN
CAN
POL
TUR
HUN
GRC
PRT
LVA
ESP
AUT
LTU
GBR
BEL
LUX
CHE
SWE
IRL
FRA
NLD
FIN
NOR
EST
DNK
Individuals submitting forms to authorities online,
% of individual surveyed, 2016
Source: OECD (2017), OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2017.
31. 31
Entry barriers to professional services
are high
Source: OECD (2015), OECD Product Market Regulation Database.
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
SWE
FIN
GBR
DNK
CHE
AUS
NOR
NZL
NLD
IRL
MEX
CHL
EST
OECD
ITA
JPN
KOR
FRA
CZE
ESP
BEL
SVN
ISR
DEU
AUT
SVK
PRT
GRC
HUN
CAN
POL
LUX
TUR
Indicator of regulation in professional services,
From least (0) to most (6) stringent
32. 32
Internet connection speed is slow
Source: Akamai (2017), “Akamai’s state of the Internet report: Q1 2017 report”, https://www.akamai.com.
0
30
60
90
120
0
30
60
90
120
GRC
MEX
FRA
TUR
ITA
AUS
LUX
SVN
EST
LTU
AUT
CHL
DEU
POL
PRT
SVK
IRL
NZL
DNK
GBR
FIN
CZE
HUN
CAN
LVA
NLD
ESP
BEL
NOR
USA
CHE
JPN
SWE
KOR
Average peak connection speed,
Megabits per second, Q1 2017
33. 33
Many jobs may undergo substantial changes
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
NOR
NZL
FIN
SWE
USA
GBR
DNK
NLD
CAN
BEL
IRL
EST
KOR
ISR
AUT
CZE
FRA
POL
ITA
ESP
SVN
CHL
DEU
JPN
GRC
TUR
SVK
Jobs at high risk of automation and significant change,
% of all jobs
Jobs at high risk of automation Jobs at risk of significant change
Source: Nedelkoska, L. and G. Quintini (2018), "Automation, skills use and training", OECD Social, Employment and
Migration Working Papers, No. 202, OECD Publishing, Paris.
34. Boost entrepreneurship and resource allocation
• Ease the conditions for bankrupt entrepreneurs to be discharged of debt after 3 years, while
maintaining adequate safeguards for creditors.
• Create a one stop shop to process all procedures for starting up a company online.
• Reduce restrictive regulation in the professional services, safeguarding quality standards and
consumer interests.
• Privatise government stakes in the Landesbanken, car manufacturing, telecommunications and
postal services.
Strengthen digital infrastructure through competition
• Use the upcoming radio spectrum auction to promote competition in the mobile market.
Expand social protection for the self employed
• Make enrolment in public old-age pension mandatory for the self-employed who are not covered
by old-age pension insurance.
• Open access to public health insurance to all self-employed.
More in Chapter 1 of the Economic Survey of Germany 2018
34
Key recommendations for boosting productivity
and preparing for the future of work
36. 36
Adults skills lag behind leading countries
PIAAC mean proficiency scores in literacy
Note: The data refer to 15-65 year-olds
Source: OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
FRA
OECD
AUT
USA
DEU
DNK
GBR
CAN
EST
SWE
AUS
NLD
FIN
JPN
37. 37
Literacy skills are low among workers with
low education attainment
PIAAC mean proficiency scores in literacy,
by educational attainment
Note: The data refer to 15-65 year-olds
Source: OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
200
230
260
290
320
350
200
230
260
290
320
350
JPN
OECD
DEU
Less than upper secondary Tertiary Upper secondary
38. 38
ICT skills lag behind leading countries,
especially among the young
Population with above basic ICT skills,
% of total population, by age cohort, 2017
Source: Eurostat (2018), Individuals' level of digital skills (database).
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
EU28 FRA DEU SWE GBR AUT FIN DNK NLD
16-24 year-olds 25-54 year-olds 55-64 year-olds
39. 39
Women’s skills are under-used
Note: Gender differences in problem solving skills at work is captured as the difference in of the mean use of skills between
men and women.
Source: OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
0
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
FIN
GBR(Eng.)
SWE
USA
DNK
AUS
CAN
OECD
FRA
NLD
DEU
AUT
JPN
Gender difference in PIAAC problem solving skills at work,
% of the mean use of skills by women
40. 40
Educational attainment of disadvantaged
students has improved
Note: The share of students achieving level 3 or above in all three PISA domains (reading, mathematics and science) among the
25% most disadvantaged students in their country according to the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status.
Source: Agasisti, T., et al. (2018), "Academic resilience: What schools and countries do to help disadvantaged students succeed
in PISA", OECD Education Working Papers, No. 167.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
USA AUT FRA SWE OECD GBR AUS DNK DEU NLD FIN CAN JPN
Students with mid-level or higher PISA attainment,
as % of disadvantaged students
2016 2006
41. 41
Parents’ educational attainment influences
children’s skills
Note: Difference in PIAAC literacy scores between individuals aged 25-65 with one parent educated to tertiary level and no
parent educated to upper secondary level. The adjusted differences take into account differences in age, gender, education,
immigrant and language background.
Source: OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
AUS
JPN
SWE
KOR
CAN
DNK
NLD
OECD
AUT
FIN
GBR
FRA
DEU
Difference in PIAAC literacy scores between individuals with
parents with high and low educational attainments
Unadjusted Adjusted for socio-economic background
42. 42
The income of vocational graduates
increases only little over their lifetime
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65
Yearly earnings of 25-65 year-olds men, euros
Vocational upper secondary Vocational tertiary education General tertiary education
age
Source: Economic Survey of Germany 2018.
43. 43
Participation in lifelong learning could be
higher
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Participation in life-long learning,
% of population aged 26-64, 2017
Germany Sweden European Union
Source: Eurostat (2018), Education and training (database).
44. Improve equity in education
• Raise quality standards in childcare and early childhood education.
• Expand primary education to high-quality full-day education programmes.
Reduce skill mismatch
• Lower the tax burden on the wage income of second earners.
• Increase the minimum amount of time the second parent has to take parental leave, from the
current 2 months, for the couple to receive the maximum leave entitlement.
Improve upskilling opportunities in the vocational education system
• Strengthen general education within vocational schools, and maintain the strong labour market
orientation of vocational education and training.
Boost participation in life-long learning
• Offer more training programmes for the modular acquisition of qualifications in life-long learning
and foster the recognition of skills acquired on-the-job.
• Strengthen support for unskilled adults to obtain professional qualifications.
More in the Chapter 2 of the Economic Survey of Germany 2018
44
Key recommendations for improving
skills and their use
45. 45
For more information
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