BAYERN - Economy
Exports, small and medium-sized businesses, and large firms
The Bavarian economy is centred on small and medium-sized businesses. In 1987, 425 000 businesses were based in Bavaria, and of these 590 employed at least 500 people; taken together, however, this larger category of businesses accounted for a third of employment.
At the end of 2002, 3 420 joint stock companies had their registered offices in Bavaria only. In addition to these there were joint stock companies with registered offices in both Bavaria and another Land, e.g. Siemens AG or Allianz Versicherungs-AG.
Whilst the geological diversity of Bavaria means that there is a variety of mineral resources, these play a fairly minor role in the economy nowadays. During the postwar period, because of the lack of primary and heavy industry, the Bavarian economy was able to adapt more readily than the old industrial areas to the new high-growth branches such as the capital goods industry.
Vehicle manufacture and mechanical engineering and electrical are Bavaria's main export branches, and 64% of Bavaria's exports in 2003 were products from the vehicle manufacturing and mechanical engineering and electrical sectors and 88% of exports were products from the manufacturing without food, drink and tobacco industries. About half of all Bavarian exports go to EC countries, mainly to Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Austria. More than half of the employees in the manufacturing industry are employed in enterprises of 500 people or more, and the same holds true of the credit and insurance sector. Two Bavarian credit institutions and a few companies in the insurance sector also operate on an interregional and international basis.
A touristic and agricultural region, dominated by industry
There were about 135 000 agricultural holdings in 2003, and they averaged more than 24 hectares each. Dairy farming is the predominant activity in many areas, particularly the Alpine foothills and the Allgau. In the crops sector, around 70% of total EC hop production and 25% of world production comes from Bavaria, mostly from the Hallertau, the largest single hop-growing area in the world.
The manufacturing industry is the real force in Bavaria's economy nowadays, particularly (figures for 2002):
-electrical engineering, with a turnover of EUR 49 300 million, an export ratio of 56% and a workforce of 207 300 in 900 undertakings employing 20 or more persons (one of these being Siemens AG);
-mechanical engineering (turnover of EUR 33 700 million, export ratio of 52%, workforce of 195 000 in 970 undertakings);
-vehicle manufacture (turnover of EUR 62 600 million, 63% export ratio and workforce of 175 600 in 200 undertakings), which includes BMW, Audi and MAN.
Others include the food processing industry, the chemical industry (including Hoechst AG and Wacker Chemie), the manufacture of plastic, iron, sheet metal and metal products, the highly productive textile and clothing industry, and the computer industry.
The hotel and catering industry has a high profile in Bavaria. Munich recorded 6.7 million overnight stays by guests in 2003, which works out at almost a tenth of the 69 million overnight stays for Bavaria as a whole. A further 32% of overnight stays were made at the numerous spa resorts.
In 2002, industry generated almost 30% of the total gross value added of Bavaria, while services represented near 69% and agriculture just over 1% of the gross value added of the region.
Transport
In 2003 there were 8 230 412 vehicles registered in Bavaria, of which 7 million were private cars. This represents a slight increase over the last decade. For the same year, the road network included 2 299 kilometres of motorways.
In terms of freight transport by air, 170 464 of tonnes (2003) were handled at the airports of the region.
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