Domestic promotion in 2021

We promote Germany

On behalf of the German Federal Government, we finance investments in the future by people in Germany; we finance start-ups and SMEs so that the German economy will remain strong. To achieve this, we finance projects that advance our environment, our municipal and social infrastructures, structural change and the common good.

1.3 million individual commitments with a total volume of EUR 82.9 billion

EUR 82.9 billion was committed to promoting businesses, private clients and municipalities in Germany in 2021 (2020: EUR 106.4 billion; 2019: EUR 43.4 billion).

This result is largely due to the Energy-efficient Construction and Refurbishment programme range, which expired as of 30 June 2021, and its successor Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings. Together these account for around 51% of domestic commitments (2021: EUR 42.7 billion).
The coronavirus special measures which KfW has been implementing on behalf of the German Federal Government since the spring of 2020 also made up a major portion of commitments in 2021, at EUR 10.1 billion (including student loans). However, they were significantly lower than in crisis-hit 2020 (EUR 46.9 billion).
Commitments in the priority area of education were slightly below the previous year, at EUR 2.0 billion, as there was less demand for the KfW Student Loan in 2021 than in crisis year 2020. The higher volume in 2020 was mainly due to product adjustments in the KfW Student Loan as a coronavirus aid measure.
Overall, we reached a record high of 1.3 million commitments, which was also reflected in the large volume of customer enquiries, which also broke previous records at more than 28.2 million in 2021.

Key promotional areas (EUR in millions)

2021
2020
2019

- Corporate investments 12,596
- Start-ups 6,317
- Innovation 2,191
- Energy transition 48,109
- Environment and sustainability 533
- Education 2,043
- Housing 6,058
- Infrastructure 5,101
- Corporate investments 46,337
- Start-ups 4,359
- Innovation 2,314
- Energy transition 35,356
- Environment and sustainability 181
- Education 2,480
- Housing 8,795
- Infrastructure 6,535
- Corporate investments 5,734
- Start-ups 2,990
- Innovation 912
- Energy transition 19,926
- Environment and sustainability 222
- Education 1,884
- Housing 7,592
- Infrastructure 4,091

Commitment volume 2021 (EUR in millions)

Our promotional offering for customers, SMEs und public institutions

Providing impetus

We are active everywhere that promotional funding serves sustainable improvement of living conditions. To this end, we provide specific impetus in the market and support people who pioneer with their projects, such as start-ups, climate-friendly mobility and local-level climate adaptation.

Illustration of charging stations: transporters are placed in front of a charging station, one is charging — Keeping sustainable mobility on track

A total of 900,000 charging points were installed with the help of the private charging infrastructure grant programme in 2020/2021. The successor commercial charging infrastructure grant programme started on 23 November 2021.

Illustration for "green not grey": a vertical green space — Targeted creation of green spaces

Over EUR 100 million was employed for climate adjustment and energy-efficient neighbourhood refurbishment, enabling a wide range of uses including building facades, roofs, traffic areas, parks and soil.

As part of its long and close cooperation with the promotional institutions of the federal states, KfW has been forging new paths since 2020. It granted liability-free global loans to these institutions for the first time, with a federal guarantee, in the context of the coronavirus measures package for start-ups. With these loans, we are supporting start-ups and small SMEs with capital-boosting promotional products in cooperation with the Federal Government and the promotional institutions. The new instrument is available in all federal states. A contract volume of EUR 862 million was agreed with the promotional institutions of the federal states for 2020 and 2021, and more than 1,200 start-ups have received support to date. The Federal Government and KfW have extended this offering until 30 June 2022 against the backdrop of successful promotional performance and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

There was also great demand for the long-established cooperation with the promotional institutions via programme-related global loans. The cooperation offer for the institutions is complemented by general funding via market funds. A total of EUR 6.5 billion in new commitments reflects the strength of this partnership.

There was also a highlight for the German SME sector in the promotion of leased investments. KfW provided strong impetus through this key financing instrument for SMEs with a record contract volume of EUR 1.42 billion in global loans for leasing investments.

Facilitating progress

Innovations provide new prospects. That’s why we promote new ideas, products and services that help to lay the foundation for an innovative society. Digitalisation is both a requirement and an opportunity in this regard, from next-generation digital skills, through the expansion of the digital infrastructure, to the digital transformation of SMEs.

Illustration of industry 4.0: an industrial building, lorries and a network with 5 symbols — Implementing the future

Commitments of EUR 1 billion in the ERP Digitalisation and Innovation Loan are a significant contribution to digital transformation and innovation activity of the SME sector (industry 4.0).

Illustration of digitale infrastructure: medical doctors are standing in fornt of a oversized laptop — Accelerating processes

Broad-scale promotion of EUR 235 million was provided under the Digital Infrastructure Investment and Syndicated Loan for fibre optic networks, in-building cabling and IT security. This enables, for example, hospitals to operate patient portals, digital medication management and telemedicine.

Illustration of learning: two girls sit in front af a computer — Creating digital prospects

Some 1,000 young people have access to the TUMO education centre in Berlin every week thanks to the 150 computer stations provided. Of these, 65% have a migrant background and 35% are girls.

Illustration on the subject of growth: A scientist stands in a botanical laboratory. A robot lifts one of the wired plants upwards. — Reinforcing the culture of innovation

Anchor investor Venture Tech Growth Financing mobilised around EUR 160 million in additional capital for young innovative technology companies with commitments of EUR 36 million.

Thinking ahead – digitally

KfW once again underscored its role as a modern promotional bank in 2021, by continuing to digitalise access to promotion, with chatbots responding on an increasing number of programme pages. High customer satisfaction is reflected in particular with the coronavirus special programmes (90%) and charging infrastructure (80%). Sales and the Infocenter handled record demand.

Almost 90% of customers gave KfW the highest satisfaction ratings for the KfW coronavirus aid programmes (Entrepreneur Loan, Start-up Loan and Instant Loan), and were particularly impressed with the fast and streamlined application processes.
KfW received especially positive feedback from recipients of “Charging stations for electric cars on residential buildings” grants. More than 80% responded that, overall, they were completely, or very, satisfied with KfW. They commended in particular the user-friendliness of KfW’s grant portal, via which they filed their application. The relevant programme page on the KfW website (www.kfw.de) is the most-visited individual product page.
Visitors stay on kfw.de for longer than average; a quarter of users (26%) venture beyond the initial text and make use of further information and tools, for example (average duration of visit: 7.23 min).
The domestic business website gains an average of more than 40% of visits thanks to search engine optimisation measures (SEO) and provide an exemplary level of accessibility (based on BITV accessibility test).
Presence on social media (Instagram) is also becoming more established; in the first three months of 2022, we reached around 1.5 million Instagram users, with over 6.5 million impressions generated by our posts in this period.

Illustration for "embedded finance": A sportswoman targets with bow and arrow — Allocating funding efficiently and precisely

Every customer receives information and advice on promotion specific to their situation, along with digital application and conclusion options, regardless of the channel or market player they choose ("embedded finance").

Illustration for promotional assistent: a robot Roboter puts letters in ballot boxes by using his 4 arms. — Simplifying processes

Almost EUR 1.5 billion in promotional funding has been granted for over 17,000 applications in the non-COVID programmes via the promotional assistant.

Illustration of a top view of several service staff at work desks with computers — Giving personal advice and answers

The Infocenter is the first port of call for customers. Staff receive a phone call every seven seconds and an e-mail every minute.

Legal notice:
The information contained in this online Annual Report 2021 is based on KfW’s Financial Report 2021, which you can download here. Should this online Annual Report 2021, despite the great care taken in preparation of its content, contain any contradictions or errors compared to the Financial Report, the KfW Financial Report 2021 takes priority.

Tip: Activate javascript to be able to use all functions of our website

Domestic promotion in 2021

We promote Germany