“Software is eating the world.” This statement, made by Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape, about a decade ago, became the unofficial motto of digitalization. Today, many claim that “Software has eaten the world”—but regardless of how we phrase it, one thing is clear: the software industry is a key future industry and a fundamental part of the digital economy.
So, what is the current state of the software industry in Germany? That’s the focus of this blog post, which will examine the industry from multiple perspectives.
The digital economy is a much broader term, encompassing IT service providers, telecom companies, IT consulting firms, and more. However, this post aims to focus specifically on the software industry—despite the inevitable challenges in defining its exact boundaries. This is hardly surprising, given that many diversified corporations engage in software development while generating most of their revenue from hardware or machinery.
Take Siemens, for example—a technology giant increasingly positioning itself as a digital company. Similarly, Vector Informatik develops both software and hardware, while the Körber Group, traditionally focused on mechanical engineering, is expanding its digital offerings. These overlaps make it difficult to draw clear lines, but the following figures still provide an insightful picture of the industry.
I’ll begin with a TOP 10 ranking of the largest software companies in Germany by revenue. Then, I’ll take a broader look at the available data on the software industry as a whole. Given the challenges of defining the sector, it’s useful to not only analyze software companies themselves but also the number of software developers employed across industries. After all, many companies whose core business isn’t software still rely heavily on software development, as software has become an integral part of today’s product landscape.
Overview of the Top 10 Software Companies in Germany
SAP (DAX)Revenue: EUR 34.2 bn (2024) Website: www.sap.com
By revenue, SAP is the largest software company in Europe (and outside the U.S.) and the third-largest publicly traded software company worldwide. Its core focus is developing software solutions that support and manage all business processes within an organization, including accounting, controlling, sales, procurement, production, inventory management, logistics, and human resources.
DATEV eG (Nürnberg)Revenue: EUR 1.439 bn (2023) Website: www.datev.de
DATEV eG is a software company and IT service provider catering primarily to tax consultants, auditors, and lawyers, as well as their clients, including medium-sized businesses, municipalities, associations, and institutions. Its core focus is on the tax consultancy market.
CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA (TecDax)Revenue: EUR 1.19 bn (2023) Website: www.cgm.com
CompuGroup is a publicly traded software company specializing in healthcare solutions. It develops application software designed to support medical and administrative tasks in doctors’ offices, pharmacies, medical laboratories, and hospitals.
Nemetschek Group (MDax)Revenue: EUR 851.6 m (2023) Website: www.nemetschek.com
Nemetschek SE is a German construction software company founded by civil engineer Georg Nemetschek.
Celonis SERevenue: USD 770 m (2023) Website: www.celonis.com
Celonis is the global leader in Execution Management. Its Execution Management System (EMS) enables companies to intelligently optimize and manage their business processes using data-driven insights.
TeamViewer AG (TecDax)Revenue: EUR 626.7 m (2023) Website: www.teamviewer.com
A global leader in innovative solutions for remote connectivity and support.
Haufe Group SERevenue: EUR 537 m (2024) Website: www.haufegroup.com
The Haufe Group, a family-owned business, is a leading B2B provider of integrated enterprise and workplace solutions. Its three most well-known brands are Haufe, Haufe Akademie, and Lexware. Lexware specializes in business software solutions for self-employed professionals, freelancers, and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany.
secunet Security Networks AGRevenue: EUR 393 m (2023) Website: www.secunet.com
Germany’s leading cybersecurity company, specializing in top-tier security standards for digital transformation projects.
RIB Software GmbHRevenue: EUR 0.3 bn (2021) Website: www.rib-software.com
RIB Software GmbH, headquartered in Stuttgart, has been a provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for the construction industry since its founding in 1961. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Schneider Electric.
PSI Software AG (Berlin)Revenue: EUR 269.9 m (2023) Website: www.psi.de
PSI Software AG develops process control and information systems designed to optimize energy and material flow for energy network operators, industrial and logistics companies, and transportation infrastructure providers.
For the sake of completeness, it’s worth mentioning Software GmbH (formerly Software AG), which, just two years ago, was unquestionably among the Top 10 software companies in Germany. However, over the past two years, the company has been largely dismantled.
At the end of 2023, Software AG sold its system integration business (WebMethods and StreamSets) to IBM for €2.13 billion. A few months later, it also divested TrendMiner, an analytics platform. Other key assets were sold as well, including its subsidiary Cumulocity (an IoT platform for connecting machines, vehicles, and devices, with annual revenue of approximately €30 million) and the Alfabet platform.
Industry insiders expect that Software AG will soon put Aris, its business process management software unit (with annual revenue of around €100 million), up for sale as well.
What remains—aside from a few smaller business segments—is the highly profitable core division, Adabas + Natural, which specializes in database systems for mainframes. In 2023, this division generated approximately €247 million in revenue. Source: Handelsblatt
Current Data on Germany’s Software Industry
Reliable data on the software sector is difficult to obtain, largely due to the challenges in defining its exact boundaries (as mentioned earlier). One of the most comprehensive sources on this topic is the Fraunhofer study: “Value Creation Through Software in Germany.” While the study dates back to 2021, it still provides solid figures for a general overview.
Download the full study here: Fraunhofer Report
According to the Fraunhofer study, the software industry in Germany accounts for: 645,000 direct jobs (1.5% of all jobs in Germany) 1.9 million indirect jobs (4.5% of all jobs in Germany). This means that the share of direct jobs in software is slightly above the European average.
Determining exact revenue figures for the German software sector is complex, as software-related revenue is often lumped together with the broader IT and telecommunications (ICT) industry. This makes it difficult to separate software from IT services, consulting, and other related sectors.
However, some key estimates provide insights: Summing up the revenue of the Top 10 software companies in Germany (as listed earlier), the total amounts to EUR 40.6 billion.
The Fraunhofer study also provides insight into Germany’s software exports: “Germany is far from being a ‘world champion’ in software exports. In 2017, global ICT exports (including IT services, software, and IT hardware) totaled USD 536 billion. The U.S. accounted for USD 42.2 billion, while Germany’s exports were significantly lower at USD 37.4 billion.”
The research platform Statista estimates that the German software market (including revenue from both domestic and foreign software companies operating in Germany) reached EUR 46.5 billion: Thereof Microsoft Germany: EUR 3 billion, Oracle Germany: EUR 1 billion. SAP’s revenue in Germany alone: Over EUR 2 billion.
Number of Software Developers in Germany
Estimating the number of software developers in Germany requires careful consideration, as distinctions must be made between software developers, IT consultants, IT system analysts, and other tech-related roles. According to data from the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) and the Bitkom Association, the following overall picture emerges:
Germany’s Federal Employment Agency categorizes IT professionals (totaling 1,077,300 employees across approximately 90,000 companies) into four main subgroups within the broader category of “Computer Science and Other ICT Professions”:
Software developers are not evenly distributed across Germany, with a significant concentration in key metropolitan areas:
On Diversity Among Software Developers in Germany: Women in Software Development: 14% of software developers in Germany are female (~46,000). And the number of non-German software professionals is steadily increasing, now totaling 66,000 across the country. Actually, in Berlin, the proportion of foreign software developers is the highest, making up 44% of the workforce.
This data highlights both the growing importance of software development in Germany and the increasing role of international talent in shaping the industry.