Services industries in Berlin
Berlin has established itself as an important European location for the service industry for years. More and more global companies are opening service centers in Berlin and offering company-oriented services.
With the decision of BASF to open a European Shared Service Center (ESSC) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which now has over 2,000 jobs, more and more service center from the areas of finance and accounting move to Berlin. Deutsche Bank has set up its international center for risk management with around 700 employees in Charlottenburg. Daimler, the finance subsidiary Mercedes Bank and Amazon opened customer center in Mitte, as well as for example Deutsche Lufthansa, Bosch and Lidl.
Berlin offers the following advantages
- Location of large international companies - cross-sector e.g. Amazon, BASF (ESSC), Deutsche Bank, Mercedes Bank, Ebay and Sony Music
- Highly qualified talent
- Seat of the Federal Government, home to embassies, associations and lobbyists
- Modern telecommunications infrastructure
- Good nationwide and regional accessibility
- Close cooperation between science and industry in over 70 non-university research institutions
- Comprehensive funding opportunities and funding programs for investments, innovations, start-ups and growth
- High quality of life
Market potential
- Berlin offers a large local market with approx. 3.7 million consumers, the metropolitan region with over 6 million.
- Services make up Berlin's largest economic sector with the highest proportion of start-ups and enterprises locating to the city.
- In 2021, the service sectors accounted for 78.6 % of added value in Berlin and are therefore at a similarly good level as before the pandemic.
- The company-related service providers have created the majority of the new jobs in Berlin in recent years. A total of 11,900 jobs were added (based on 660,000 jobs in 2019). And are therefore a strong and important pillar of the Berlin economy.
- There is still a strong dynamic in the communication, consulting and service industries.
- In the context of Berlin's information and communication technologies, new services are in demand and have emerged. More than 12,600 new jobs were created in 2021.
- A large pool of qualified management talent and trained specialists is available to employers.
- Numerous research institutions and a strong start-up ecosystem promote an innovative climate and economic growth.
The effects of the Corona pandemic weighed on individual branches of the service economy, while other branches are showing good growth (for example, online retailing and Q-commerce). Similar developments are characterized by the current situation caused by the Ukraine crisis.
Berlin offers the best opportunities for:
- Domestic and foreign administrative centers
- Company representative offices and Berlin offices
- Services for companies and institutions
- Trade fair and event management companies
- Advertising, public relations and marketing
- Service and customer centers
- Further education institutions such as coding schools
- Associations
(Sources: e.g. Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises Economic Report 2021, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology Annual Reports)
Large services companies in Berlin
Berlin has gained in importance as the headquarters of global companies. The largest companies in Berlin (excerpt):
- Amazon
- Deutsche Bank
- Deutsche Bahn AG
- Siemens AG
- Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
- Deutsche Telekom AG
- Deutsche Post DHL
- Daimler AG
- Landesbank Berlin Holding AG
- Gegenbauer Gruppe
- METRO Group
- Dussmann-Gruppe
- Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetr. BSR
- Vattenfall Europe
- Berlinwasser Holding AG
- EDEKA Gruppe
- Zalando
(Source: Berlin Partner for Business and Technology)
