DIW Weekly Report

Nuclear Fusion Research Shifts Focus: Commercial Niche Products instead of Energy Promises

Nuclear fusion research shifts focus: commercial niche products instead of energy generation. Nuclear fusion, in which atomic nuclei are fused, promises clean, safe, and virtually inexhaustible energy. Since the 1950s, this promise has justified extensive public investment in research, without any real progress being made toward commercial use in the energy sector. However, nuclear fusion research ...

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Construction Industry Returns to Growth

Following five years of crisis, construction output will grow in real terms again in 2026, increasing by 1.7 percent. Next year, growth could reach nearly 3.5 percent. Public construction is driving this recovery. Real public construction volume is expected to grow by 6.7 percent in both 2026 and 2027. The reason for this strong expansion is the gradual increase in spending from the Special Fund for ...

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Women on the Executive and Supervisory Boards of Large Companies: The Upward Trend of Recent Years Has Largely Stalled

The proportion of women on the executive and supervisory boards of Germany's largest companies has risen considerably since data collection for the DIW Women Executives Barometer began 20 years ago. While it was just over one percent on the executive boards of Germany's 200 highest-revenue companies in 2006, it is now around 19 percent. The proportion of women on supervisory boards in the top 200 group ...

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Favorable Conditions Allow Accelerating the Renewabe Energy Transition

Germany’s current government is planning to realign its energy transition. Against this backdrop, this report provides an overview of current developments in key technologies and indicators for flexibility in the electricity sector. For photovoltaics, growth appears to be leveling off, especially for rooftop installations. Onshore wind power continues to lag its target path, but this gap could close ...

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The Era of Ever-Larger Dwellings in Germany Is Coming to an End

Over the past 150 years, living space consumption has increased significantly—in Germany from less than half a room to almost two rooms per capita. The average living space per person more than doubled between 1956 and 2024, reaching 49.2 square meters. Rising incomes enabled the construction of ever larger dwellings which led to improved living conditions. Today, the majority of people live in spacious ...

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Real Estate Market Remains Tense – Rents and Apartment Prices Are Rising

After two years of significant price declines, the German real, estate market is showing signs of slight stabilization. Once, again, building plots and single-family homes have become, slightly cheaper – nominally by one percent compared to, 2024. In 2024, the declines were four and seven percent, respectively. Prices for row houses and apartments, on the other hand, rose slightly by 0.5 percent. Price ...

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German Economy in the Starting Blocks—Global Economy Holds Its Own

The German economy has stabilized in the current year and is looking ahead to a fiscal policy-supported upturn starting next year. Since the fall, an expansion in public demand has been providing important economic impetus. The private sector, on the other hand, has so far been more subdued. Trade policy uncertainties, high production costs, and structural weaknesses are causing particular concern ...

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Heat Monitor 2024: Following the Energy Crisis, Prices for Heating Energy Sources Are Developing Very Differently

In 2024, the heating energy demand of households in Germany remained at a similar level as in 2023. Thus, the heating energy savings achieved during the energy crisis were maintained, as data from real estate service provider ista SE show. Compared to 2023, CO₂ emissions fell by three percent after adjusting for temperature. Although heating energy prices rose on average by only 6.2 percent in 2024, ...

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Mothers’ Living Conditions Shape Health and Early Development, While Refugee Experience Has Little Impact

Around 200,000 children were born to refugees in Germany between 2014 and 2022. This Weekly Report investigates how the health and development of children born in Germany to refugees are affected by their parent’s experience of being a refugee. An analysis using representative data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and data from the IAB-BAMFSOEP Survey of Refugees shows that there are no significant ...

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Traditional Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Are Increasing Among Young People in Some Countries

Attitudes toward the roles of women and men in society have become more egalitarian in Germany and most countries around the world since World War II. Recently, however, this process has slowed significantly, even reversing in some places. In most countries, the attitudes of the youngest ten age groups surveyed are hardly any more egalitarian than those of the ten age groups before them. In about a ...

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