High costs, expensive energy, a lot of bureaucracy - many see Germany on the decline.

Expensive and overregulated, but economically attractive: Foreign companies view Germany as a business location with mixed feelings – and, despite all the criticism, don't rate it as such. This is the finding of a study by the federal economic development agency Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), which was made available to the German Press Agency. Around 1,800 companies from Great Britain, France, the USA, Japan, and South Korea were surveyed for the study.

"Germany is overregulated, the tax and levy burden is too high, German is a difficult language to learn, and energy costs and the energy transition are challenges," the GTAI summarizes the companies' assessment. "On the other hand, Germany is an economically stable and large market that offers great potential." The respondents also noted the company's qualified specialists, innovative strength, and functioning legal framework as positive aspects.

The bottom line is that around 60 percent of respondents believe that Germany has a good infrastructure as well as good scientific institutions and production conditions.

The study further shows that traditional judgments about Germany and its virtues are widespread abroad. When thinking about Germany, the immediate evocation is its economic strength and stability, it states. "Innovation comes second, followed by a skilled workforce and work discipline." Many foreign managers also think of the difficult German language, seriousness and quality, as well as the automotive industry.

For the analysis, managers responsible for expansion decisions were surveyed. "There has never been such a broad and comprehensive study on Germany as a business location," said Julia Braune, GTAI's first managing director.

Germany as a business location is under heavy criticism from business associations. According to a survey by the Ifo Institute, German economic experts rate it only mid-range in Europe. Almost 80 percent believe that Germany has become less attractive over the past ten years.

The GTAI survey presents a mixed picture: Among the strengths, economic stability and potential are most frequently cited (14 percent), followed by skilled workers (10) and supply chains (10), innovative strength (8) and advantageous geographical location (7).

The weaknesses cited by respondents were mostly high operating and wage costs (14), linguistic and cultural differences (9), overregulation (8) and the high tax and levy burden (7).