Reboot Germany: Over €800 billion pledged
4 min read
As of September 2025, the members of “Made for Germany” planned to invest €735 billion in Germany by 2028. A year later, the German government put the commitments at over €800 billion. The totals also include projects that were already planned and do not in themselves demonstrate an economic turnaround. For medium-sized businesses, it is worth looking at which projects are actually implemented and what the figures can reveal for their own investment decisions.
Key points at a glance
- The €735 billion was an interim figure from 2025. At the time, the initiative had 105 members and included both previously planned and new projects in the total.
- The German government reported higher commitments in 2026. On 30 September, it cited 147 companies and more than €800 billion for the period from 2025 to 2028.
- Rising insolvency figures and investment plans coexist. The decline in estimated creditor claims alone does not mean the economy is out of danger.
What lies behind the €735 billion
On 30 September 2025, the Made for Germany initiative reported investment commitments of €735 billion by 2028. According to the initiative, the total included previously planned and new capital investments, research and development spending as well as commitments from international investors. At the time, 105 companies belonged to the initiative.
The figure is therefore not a measure solely of new projects generated by the initiative. Nor does it represent spending that has already been completed in full. To assess the impact, details of each project, when the decision was made and whether it is actually implemented are crucial.
On 30 September 2026, the German government cited 147 participating companies and investment commitments of over €800 billion for the period from 2025 to 2028.
What the insolvency figures show
In 2025, local courts registered 24,064 business insolvency applications. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this was 10.3 per cent more than in 2024. Estimated creditor claims fell from around €58.1 billion to €47.9 billion over the same period.
Destatis attributes the decline to the greater number of economically significant companies that filed for insolvency in 2024. The total value of claims therefore also depends on individual large cases. It is not a complete measure of economic damage and does not establish whether a structural crisis exists.
Investment commitments and insolvency statistics answer different questions. The former show planned spending by participating companies. The latter record insolvency applications and the estimated claims calculated by the courts. Together, the two measures paint a more nuanced picture than either does on its own.
How medium-sized businesses can assess investment plans
For a company’s own planning, what matters is which problem a project solves and how its benefits will be measured. In a digitalisation project, this could be the time taken to complete a particular workflow. Before making a decision, businesses can establish a baseline, a target, costs and a date for review.
Financing also needs to be factored in: what expenditure will arise before the project goes live? What ongoing costs will there be for operations, maintenance and training? And how much room for manoeuvre remains if the benefits take longer than expected to materialise? A small, clearly defined pilot can help test these assumptions.
For larger projects, it is also relevant to establish who is responsible internally for data, processes and implementation. Once these responsibilities have been assigned, an external partner’s proposal can be meaningfully assessed against the company’s own capacity.
From a signal about Germany to an individual project
The initiative’s commitments show that companies are planning expenditure in Germany. For suppliers and service providers, this becomes a concrete opportunity only when the scope, location and timetable of a project are known. For a company’s own budget planning, a single transparent investment decision is therefore more informative than an aggregate total.
Reboot Germany follows such decisions and their consequences for businesses. This includes examining which projects achieve their objectives and where expectations need to be revised.
Frequently asked questions
What is “Made for Germany”?
Launched in 2025, the initiative brings together companies from different sectors that want to invest in Germany and strengthen it as a business location.
Is the €735 billion entirely new investment?
No. In 2025, the initiative said the total included previously planned and new capital investments, research and development spending as well as commitments from international investors.
Why did creditor claims fall despite more insolvencies?
According to Destatis, more economically significant companies filed for insolvency in 2024. In 2025, there were fewer major insolvencies with claims of €25 million or more.
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Translated from the German original using artificial intelligence. The German version is authoritative.
