According to a new survey by the ifo Institute, half of all entrepreneurs are lacking orders

According to a new survey by the ifo Institute (https://www.ifo.de), almost one in five self-employed people in Germany fear for their livelihoods in view of the economic stagnation. And almost half of those surveyed are lacking orders: in October, 46.6 per cent said so, up from 43.6 per cent in July and thus more than the average for the economy as a whole (36.9 per cent).

Reluctance to invest

‘Many companies are holding back on new orders due to the uncertain situation – consumer sentiment also remains subdued,’ says ifo expert Katrin Demmelhuber.

As a result, the business climate for the self-employed and micro-enterprises deteriorated in October. The ‘Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index’ fell to minus 23.7 points, down from minus 19.8 points in September.

Hoping for an upturn

The continuing difficult economic situation is causing more and more self-employed people to despair. ‘Many self-employed people are still waiting for the hoped-for economic upturn – this is dampening the mood,’ says Demmelhuber.

33.7 per cent find it difficult to predict their own business development. In September, the figure was 30.4 per cent. This means that uncertainty among the self-employed remains higher than in the economy as a whole, where the figure was 22.6 per cent in October.