News from 2023-03-07 / KfW Research

KfW SME Digitalisation Report 2022

The second year of the coronavirus pandemic brought a significant boost in digitalisation but the divide between pioneers and latecomers threatens to widen

The key finding is that digitalisation expenditure peaked in 2021, but the share of businesses with digitalisation activities hardly increased compared with pre-pandemic times. Staffing problems affect digitally active businesses to a particularly large degree:

  • Boost from the pandemic continues as businesses begin to tackle more complex projects
  • Risk of a split into digital pioneers and small firms left behind is greater than ever
  • Lack of digital literacy and IT experts is slowing progress

KfW SME Digitalisation Report 2022

Press release

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