Speeches by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) are typically peppered with superlatives: safest federal state, largest donor in state financial equalization and so on. On Wednesday, Söder received supplies: new numbers with new superlatives for new speeches in the new year were presented by Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) and Thomas Gößl, President of the Bavarian State Office for Statistics, at a press conference for the publication of the Statistical Yearbook for Bavaria 2023.
“Three quarters of the gingerbread in Germany are made in Bavaria,” Herrmann announced, for example, with some pride in his voice. 64,835 tons were produced in the Free State last year, which is another 3.4 percent more than in 2021. The Free State therefore dominates the German baked goods market.
It is questionable whether this will be included in future speeches by the Prime Minister. However, he will certainly mention this: Bavaria’s economy has grown. In the first half of 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose by at least half a percent. This is “not self-evident when you compare it with other areas in Germany,” said Herrmann, pointing out that GDP nationwide fell by 0.3 percent in the first half of this year.
The Free State also continues to show better unemployment figures than the rest of the republic. While the unemployment rate in Germany was an average of 5.5 percent in November, it was only 3.3 percent in Bavaria. Compared to the previous year, this still represents an increase of 0.2 percentage points.
Herrmann was also able to report impressive results from the tourism industry: from January to October, almost 34 million more guests than in the same period last year – which was influenced by the pandemic; a significant increase in foreign visitors whose “inhibitions” have disappeared due to Corona; and in the summer half of the year there were even 2.2 percent more overnight stays than in the previous record year of 2019. Bavaria remains “very popular” as a relaxation and holiday destination.
Production in Bavarian companies increased by 1.6 percent from the beginning of the year to October, particularly strongly in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors. Things are looking less good in energy-intensive companies: in the manufacture of chemical products, for example, production fell by 12.2 percent compared to the previous year. There is no improvement in sight, as companies received 3.3 percent fewer orders across industry boundaries by October than in the same period last year. A decline in production is therefore to be expected. Nevertheless, Herrmann emphasized that Bavaria’s economy is “a force to be reckoned with.”
There should be more e-charging points at state buildings
The Interior Minister positively emphasized that consumer prices in the Free State had stabilized, “albeit at a high level”. Bavaria got through inflation well. In November, the inflation rate in Bavaria was 2.8 percent compared to the same month last year, and across Germany it was 3.2 percent. Herrmann attributed the less strong increase than at the beginning of the year to lower energy prices. “We are experiencing a certain level of relaxation and normalization,” he said, although daily nutrition still represents a “heavy financial burden, especially for people with lower incomes.”
The 67-year-old also used the occasion to criticize the federal government. In connection with Bavaria’s population, which rose in 2022 despite more deaths than births, primarily due to immigration from abroad, he spoke of an “overtaxing of our social systems” and a “threat to political stability” in Germany. In 2022, almost 444,000 people came to Bavaria from other countries, the majority from Ukraine. Immigration is important for “maintaining our prosperity”. But it must be carried out in a controlled manner. Herrmann therefore praised the EU’s decision on asylum reform as “a first step in the right direction”. At the same time, he announced that he would maintain border controls until the reform was implemented. He once again demanded a “fundamental change of course in migration policy” from the traffic light government.
However, Herrmann, who emphasized right at the beginning of his remarks that statistics promote an “evidence-based policy”, derived from the figures announced not only demands on the traffic lights but also a mandate for Bavarian politicians to take action. He called the increasing number of cars with alternative drives – such cars accounted for almost half of new registrations in Bavaria – “gratifying”. The state government must “take this into account”. More and faster charging stations for electric cars are needed, especially in cities. The charging time is important for “emotional acceptance among people”. Herrmann announced that more charging points will also be built at state buildings in the future.