Handwerksbericht: Das Handwerk leidet stärker unter der Energiekrise als die Gesamtwirtschaft
From the middle of the last decade, sales in the German skilled crafts sector initially grew faster than the economy as a whole. This was still the case in 2020, despite the restrictions imposed in the wake of the Corona crisis, as the skilled crafts sector outperformed the overall economy by around 5 percentage points in both nominal and real terms. In 2021 and 2022, the picture changed: nominal craft trade sales grew less strongly than those of the economy as a whole, and in real terms the craft trade sector even performed around 10 percentage points worse in each case, even if the individual craft trade groups were affected differently. In 2023, a slight recovery and a slowdown in price increases can be expected as a result of the easing of the energy markets, reduced material bottlenecks and further normalization of supply chains, but there are signs that the skilled trades sector will once again outperform the economy as a whole in real terms. Beyond 2023, however, a somewhat more positive real development of the skilled crafts sector is expected.
Dehio, J. (2023), Handwerksbericht: Das Handwerk leidet stärker unter der Energiekrise als die Gesamtwirtschaft. RWI Konjunkturberichte, 74, 2, 69-81