BERLIN (Reuters) – Material shortages in Germany’s manufacturing sector have eased significantly, with the supply situation almost back to pre-crisis level, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday.
In October, 18.2% of companies surveyed by Ifo reported problems, down from 24.0% in September.
By comparison, supply problems for the sector peaked in December 2021, when 82.4% reported that they had an issue.
“Things are almost back to pre-crisis levels,” said Ifo’s head of surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe.
“Companies should plan now for future shortages, diversify their supply chains, and increase inventory levels,” he added.
The automotive sector was still the hardest hit by supply bottlenecks in October, though the share of companies saying there was a problem dropped to 36.8% from 53.3% in September.
In all other industries, the share of companies reporting a problem in October was below 30%, according to Ifo.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Ed Osmond)
