Economy of North Rhine-Westphalia
In the 1950s and 1960s, Westphalia was known as Land von Kohle und Stahl or the land of coal and steel. In the post-WWII recovery, the Ruhr was one of the most important industrial regions in Europe, and contributed to the German Wirtschaftswunder. As of the late 1960s, repeated crises led to contractions of these industrial branches. On the other hand, producing sectors, particularly in mechanical engineering and metal and iron working industry, experienced substantial growth. Some of former coal mining areas retain high unemployment rates. Despite this structural change and an economic growth which was under national average, the 2007 GDP of 529.4 billion euro (21.8 percent of the total German GDP) made the land the economically most important in Germany, as well as one of the most important economical areas in the world.[1] Of Germany’s top 100 corporations, 37 are based in North Rhine-Westphalia. On a per capita base, however, Northrhine-Westfalia remains one of the weaker among the Western German lands.[2] As of June 2014, the unemployment rate is 8.2%, second highest among all western German states.[3]
North Rhine-Westphalia attracts companies from both Germany and abroad, with 26 of the 50 largest German companies based in Germany's most westerly federal state. These include leading German corporations such as E.ON (energy), Deutsche Telekom (telecommunications), Deutsche Post World Net (logistics), Metro AG (food trade), ThyssenKrupp (automotive supplier), RWE (energy) and Rewe Gruppe (trade). The state can rightly claim the most foreign direct investments (FDI) anywhere in Germany.[4] With 28.7 percent (187.6 billion euros) North Rhine-Westphalia recorded by far the highest direct investment share in Germany of all 16 federal states in 2008.[5]
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Around 11,500 foreign companies from the most important investment countries control their German or European operations from bases in North Rhine-Westphalia. This means that almost a quarter of the foreign companies in Germany are domiciled in North Rhine-Westphalia. These include many international global players such as 3M, BP, Ericsson, Ford, LG Electronics, QVC, Sony, Renault, Toyota, and Vodafone. The companies employ a total of over 582,000 people. Their activities range from pure production to sophisticated services.
There has been many changes in the state's economy in recent times. Among the many changes in the economy, the creative industries outranks the mining sector in terms of employment.[6] Industrial heritage sites are now workplaces for designers, artists and the advertising industry.[6] The Ruhr region, formerly known as the "land of coal and steel" (Land von Kohle und Stahl), has - since the 1960s - undergone a significant structural change away from coal mining and steel industry. Many rural parts of Eastern Westphalia, Bergisches Land and the Lower Rhine ground their economy on "Hidden Champions" in various sectors.
See also
References
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- ↑ [1] Archived June 14, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ Rivergate | Federal States of Germany[dead link]
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