Economic Protection 2026: Situation Report on the German Economy (Bitkom)

Summary

• The study is based on a representative survey of 1,003 companies in Germany with at least 10 employees.p.3
• 96% of companies were affected by theft, industrial espionage or sabotage in the past twelve months or suspect such incidents; 67% were certainly affected and 29% suspect it.p.3
• For 2026 the damage corridor is €211 to €270.8 billion, after €289.2 billion in the previous year and €266.6 billion in 2024.p.10
• 76% of the total damage is attributable to cyberattacks, equivalent to €160.4 to €205.8 billion, compared with 70% in the previous year and 59% in 2021.p.13
• Foreign intelligence services rose from 28% to 37% as a perpetrator group, from only 7% in 2023.p.15
• 52% of affected companies traced at least one attack to China, 6 percentage points more than the previous year, followed by Russia with 49%.p.16
• 82% of companies assume attackers are increasingly using AI, although only 31% are certain and 51% suspect it.p.21

Key insights

1. 73% see data theft, industrial espionage and sabotage as a great threat, 28% a very great one.p.7
2. The largest losses come from counterfeit products and plagiarism at €38.9 billion.p.11
3. 63% report that the number of cyberattacks increased in the past twelve months.p.20
4. Robo calls causing damage rose from 3% to 14%, and deepfakes caused damage at 8% of companies.p.22
5. Only 43% of companies say they are very well prepared for cyberattacks, compared with 50% the previous year.p.26
6. On average 18% of the IT budget goes to IT security.p.29
7. 59% of companies say they depend on security solutions from the USA, while 70% want authorities and companies to use German and European solutions.p.30