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 Q2 2026, the share of firms reporting that they had conducted loan negotiations in the respective quarter prior to the survey period increased slightly (Q2 2026: 15.0 %, compared with Q1 2026: 14.7 %). 

In Q2 2026, 80 % of firms reported an increase in their energy costs over the past 12 months. This represents a rise of 20 percentage points on the previous quarter. For 24 % of firms, access to intermediate inputs deteriorated. The increase on Q1 2026 (18 %) amounts to 6 percentage points, which is the highest deterioration in this metric as measured by this study. 

In Q2 2026, 72 % of firms expected rising energy costs over the next 12 months, compared with 60% in the previous quarter. 29% of firms anticipated a deterioration in access to intermediate inputs, which corresponds to an increase of 10 percentage points. A comparable rise in negative expectations was last observed in this study during the coronavirus pandemic and after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 

Among the problematic developments for firms over the first quarter of 2026, high energy prices recorded the strongest growth, with 61% of firms seeing them as a pressing problem over the next six months in March (December 2025: 43%). In absolute terms, “regulation and government regulations” remain the biggest short-term challenge for firms, with an unchanged 69% in March 2026 reporting that bureaucracy would be a pressing problem over the next six months compared with December 2025.