The Chemical Industry Is an Important Driver of Innovation for the German Economy
ResearchZEW Study for the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI)
The chemical industry in Germany is one of the key suppliers of innovations for the entire German economy. This has been confirmed by a new study conducted by ZEW Mannheim in conjunction with the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) for the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI). The data is based on information from the global patent statistics database PATSTAT.
“Our study shows that the German chemical industry is by far the most important supplier of material innovations. For example, it supplies the food, pharmaceutical, semiconductor and environmental technology industries. Moreover, the patents that originate from chemical research make an extraordinary contribution to the sustainability goals of the United Nations,” said Dr. Christian Rammer, author of the study and Deputy Head of ZEW’s “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics” Research Unit.
Great importance for the German innovation system
The chemical industry invested around 5.5 billion euros in research and development (R&D) in 2022. This makes it by far the most research-intensive economic sector within the German materials technology industries, which include chemicals, metals, plastics, textiles, wood, paper and building materials. The chemical industry alone accounts for around 60 per cent of the total R&D expenditure of 9.4 billion euros in this sector.
“The high R&D performance of the German chemical industry means that its customer industries have a strong local pratner for chemistry-based innovations. The extensive R&D results of the German chemical industry provide an important technology pool from which other industries can draw. These customer industries include automotive engineering, the electrical industry and the healthcare sector,” said Ulrike Zimmer, Head of Science, Technology and Environment at the VCI. “The entire German economy benefits from a domestic chemical industry that is strong in research and participates in global developments in the field of material technologies.”
UN sustainability goals cannot be achieved without chemistry
Innovations from the chemical industry are not just fundamental for downstream industries. The patents that originate from R&D in the German chemical industry also contribute to many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations set for itself in 2015.
The share of chemical patents in all patent applications for an SDG goal illustrates the contribution of chemistry to the development of technological solutions. It shows how relevant chemistry is for progress in the respective target area. Of course, it must be taken into account that the social challenges behind the SDG goals cannot be tackled solely through new technologies. Nevertheless, technological solutions are a central building block for achieving the SDG goals.
“If you compare the contribution of chemistry to all patents that are relevant for achieving sustainability goals, chemistry clearly takes first place as a technology supplier in four SDGs,” explained Rammer. These include the goals “clean water and sanitation”, with 59 per cent of all patents, followed by “health and well-being” (48 per cent), “climate action” (42 per cent) and “zero hunger” (39 per cent).
“These figures are an impressive illustration of how central chemical knowledge is in developing new technological solutions to the major challenges facing society,” explained Zimmer.
