Through its academic survey, the Research Centre of the Deutsche Bundesbank is obtaining a picture of the current situation among firms in Germany and gaining greater insight into their expectations for the coming months. Over time, the survey also provides crucial information on changes within the corporate sector.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, slightly fewer firms than in the third quarter reported that they had conducted loan negotiations in the respective quarter prior to the survey period (Q4: 14.6 %, Q3: 15.7 %).

In the fourth quarter of 2025, 35 % of firms reported a decline in their short-term liquidity over the previous 12 months. By contrast, an unchanged 19 % of firms recorded an increase in their liquidity. The need for credit financing rose for 27 % of firms, but fell for 18 % of firms. 22 % of firms reported decreased access to financing sources, whilst a further 7 % reported an improvement in this regard.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, 29 % of firms expected their short-term liquidity to decline over the next 4 months, while 16 % expected their liquidity to increase. An unchanged 29 % of firms anticipated a higher need for credit financing, while 15 % of firms expected a decline in their need for credit financing. 20 % of firms expected their access to finance to decrease, whereas 9 % of firms anticipated increased access, as in the previous quarter.

Regulation and government rules remained one of the biggest short-term challenges from the perspective of firms: in September, 69 % of firms stated that bureaucracy was a pressing problem. High production and labour costs were considered problematic by 57 % of firms. By contrast, only 11 % of firms recently viewed access to intermediate inputs as a problem; this figure was near pre-pandemic levels again.