Some 70% of German companies expect their productivity to improve due to artificial intelligence, a new report by the ifo Institut has found.
According to the institute, within the next five years, German businesses expect an average increase in productivity of between 8% and 16%.
‘Many opportunities’
“This shows that many companies see opportunities in AI,” commented Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at ifo. “All companies will have to check whether and how they can use AI.”
Service providers are expecting a productivity boost of between 10.2% and 20.9%, ifo revealed, while the trade sector expects productivity to rise between 9.1% and 23%.
The manufacturing industry is similarly optimistic about the potential from AI, expecting a productivity increase of 7.8% to 17.3%.
Expectations are at their lowest in construction, meanwhile (8.2% to 14.8%), which is consistent with the low use of AI in this sector.
“The range does, however, also show the uncertainty among companies about the exact impact of AI,” Wohlrabe added.
AI usage in Germany
According to a comprehensive business survey by the ifo Institut, despite regulatory challenges, AI usage in German companies has increased significantly over the past year: the share of companies reporting the use of AI rose from 13.3% in June 2023 to 27% the following year.
In the manufacturing sector, 31% of companies are using AI. AI usage was somewhat less common in the trade, services, and construction sectors. While 27.7% of service companies use AI, the figure is 22% in trade and only 11.6% in construction.
The majority of companies expect positive productivity effects from AI, with estimated productivity gains of 8% for their own business and 12% for the overall economy in the next five years.
Just 13.1% of the companies surveyed indicated that AI was not a topic of discussion. Read more here.
