Production rose by a good 9% between January and November 2021, while nominal revenue increased by just under 10% in the same period. Extrapolated to last year as a whole, turnover almost reached the 200 billion euro mark for the first time. Almost all sub-sectors showed a positive development. The number of employees increased by more than 5,000 to 877,000, while short-time working fell significantly to 15,000.

"The industry managed to manage the pandemic situation very well last year. The safety measures taken by companies have worked," Dr. Kegel continued. "It is important that economic and social life continues to be maintained, even if new virus variants present us with new challenges." Of course, this does not rule out the need for protective measures. The ongoing shortage of materials is causing problems for the industry. Without the existing supply bottlenecks, turnover would have been significantly higher in 2021 and the 200 billion euro mark could have been broken. The ZVEI does not expect the situation to improve until the middle of the year at the earliest.

In view of the pressure on global supply chains and the networking of the industry, the ZVEI is calling for Europe's technological sovereignty and resilience to be strengthened as a matter of urgency. "Europe can only confidently represent its economic interests vis-à-vis China and the USA from a strong position. To this end, there must be no one-sided dependencies, neither in cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors nor in cutting-edge research," continued the ZVEI President. Europe must be able to act strongly and confidently with its own competencies without being protectionist. To this end, the EU must, for example, quickly launch the second IPCEI for microelectronics. Dr. Kegel: "When billions are being funded elsewhere, Europe must not be left behind."

The association is also confident about 2022, but points out that there are major uncertainties in this year's forecast. "As things stand today, we are assuming an increase in production of 4 percent," says the ZVEI President.

All-electric society: industry drives development

The growth-promoting megatrends of electrification and digitalization are directly linked to the electrical and digital industry and have been further strengthened by the coalition agreement of the new German government. Take climate protection, for example: "In order to achieve the ambitious climate targets, electrification with end-to-end coupling of the climate-relevant sectors of energy, industry, buildings and mobility must now be tackled with determination," says Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the ZVEI Management Board. With intelligent connection and direct use, renewable electricity could not only enable an increasingly CO2-free energy supply, but also generate high energy efficiency potential. "Electrification can reduce primary energy demand by more than 40 percent by 2045, the target year for climate neutrality," emphasizes Weber.

The technologies for this are available, but remain far too often unused. One major weak point is the expansion of the grid, which has been neglected for years. "The energy transition cannot succeed without a high-performance, digitalized electricity grid," says Weber. Its upgrading and expansion must therefore be urgently synchronized with the expansion of renewables. However, the association also sees a great need for action in other areas. "The infrastructure in Germany as a whole needs to be rejuvenated," explains the Chairman of the ZVEI Management Board. Take the building sector, for example: "The majority of buildings are not ready for the energy transition, the renovation rate is too low and the electrical installations are often outdated."

It is urgently necessary to actually "dare to make more progress". The ZVEI is calling on the traffic light coalition to quickly take measures to support the development towards an all-electric society. The price of electricity plays a key role in this. Weber: "In order to make renewable electricity attractive as a primary energy source, the price of electricity must be reduced more quickly - for everyone." The abolition of the EEG levy alone is not enough. The electricity tax must also be lowered and completely reduced for renewable electricity.