Economic Outlook

Global Economy

The Russian war against Ukraine has fundamentally changed the geopolitical landscape and has had an extensive impact on the global economy. We anticipate additional consequences for global supply chains as a result of this conflict, along with a high level of raw material and energy prices, higher inflation, and weaker global economic growth compared with the outlook we published in the Annual Report 2021. Moreover, the possibility of another reduction in gas supplies from Russia to Europe poses an additional risk. Increases in key interest rates by a number of central banks are further exacerbating the risk of recession. In addition, the zero-COVID strategy in China and the resulting lockdowns put the brakes on global economic performance in the first half of 2022. Existing and possible future tight restrictions in China in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus hold risks for the entire global economy. Compared to the outlook we published in the Annual Report 2021, we still anticipate slight growth in the global economy, but now with a less robust increase in economic performance of 2.6%. Due to the aforementioned effects, the estimates were reduced for all three regions for the reporting year.

Main Customer Industries

In all main customer industries, we continue to forecast positive growth for the year 2022. Growth in the automotive industry is projected to remain strongly positive but, at 6.0%, below the outlook presented in the Annual Report 2021. The growth rates expected for the furniture and construction industries as well as for the electrical, electronics, and household appliances industry have also been reduced.