page_title: Economy of Berlin
section_title: Reunification
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Berlin / History / Reunification
caption_attribution_description: English: BahnTower (headquarter of the Deutsche Bahn) at the Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square) in Berlin Deutsch: BahnTower (Konzernzentrale der Deutsche Bahn) am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin 日本語: ベルリン・ポツダム広場にあるドイツ鉄道本社
context_page_description: The economy of Berlin is dominated by the service sector, with around 84% of all companies doing business in services. Important economic sectors in Berlin include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.
  Berlin became one of the largest and most advanced industrial centers in Europe after 1870. After 1900 the Berlin banking district became a major continental financial center and was home to a number of prominent banks. After the end of World War II in 1945 and the subsequent political divisions, the city's location inside of East Germany led to an exodus of many major firms to West Germany. Berlin's economy has been affected through the years by the city's changing geopolitical fortunes from 1961-1989. The city stagnated economically during the Cold War, when West Berlin was isolated geographically and East Berlin suffered from poor economic decisions made by East Germany’s socialist central planners.
context_section_description: Berlin’s and Germany’s unification brought the collapse of many of East Berlin’s producers, which could not compete with market-disciplined Western competitors. Massive unemployment was only partly compensated by the growth of jobs in the construction and infrastructural sectors involved in rebuilding and upgrading East Berlin’s infrastructure. The move of the federal government from Bonn to Berlin in 1999 brought some economic stimulus and tens of thousands of jobs from government employees, parliamentary services, lobbyists and journalism to Berlin. Berlin’s service sectors have also benefited from improved transportation and communications links to the surrounding region.
  While some manufacturing remains in the city (Siemens and Bayer Schering Pharma have headquarters in Berlin), the service sectors have become the city’s economic mainstay. Research and development have gained significance, and Berlin was ranked among the top three innovative regions in the EU (after Baden-Württemberg and the Île-de-France in 2006. In the same year unemployment remained high, at 16.5% as of 2006.
  Fast-growing sectors are communications, life sciences, mobility and services with information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology and environmental services, transportation and medical engineering.
  Since 2015 Berlin is the top congress city in the world and is home to one of Europe's biggest convention centers in the form of the CityCube Berlin (formerly Internationales Congress Centrum). It contributes to the increasing tourism sector encompassing 592 hotels with 90,700 beds (2007 figures) and numbered over 22 million overnight stays by 9.8 million tourists in 2011. Berlin has established itself as the third most visited city destination in the European Union.
  Berlin's economy has grown continuously above the German average in the period from 2005 to 2013. This trend is set to continue, with important improvements to infrastructure, such as the biggest European crossing station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof (inaugurated 2006), the opening of the 3rd biggest German airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, scheduled for 2018 and intended as a major European hub.
  Also, the revered Berlin music scene, attracting tens of thousands of young tourists flying in for the city's famed clubs has become an increasingly important part of the economy and is set to gain the support of the city music board modeled after the German film promotion authority.
caption: Deutsche Bahn headquarters
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