The 2026 Competitiveness Report for Eastern Germany warns this year that "the convergence process is in jeopardy". The new federal states risk being left behind. Meanwhile, other countries in Eastern Europe, Poland in particular, are managing to use this period to their economic advantage.
While some of those countries have seen dynamic growth, new industrial plants and rising investment in recent years, many regions of eastern Germany are struggling with a shortage of skilled workers, weak investment and demographic pressures.
