What industries are popular in Leipzig?

The Leipzig Region is the ideal location for a variety of business sectors due to its exceptional framework conditions, future-oriented cluster strategy, and site availability for future industries which becomes increasingly hard to find in other regions of Germany.

This exceptional location offers a wide selection of appealing workspaces, access to a pool of highly experienced workers, exceptional support from the Invest Region Leipzig team, together with strong business connections across the region. Although Leipzig is home to a wide array of industries, there are five industries that are currently thriving above the rest in the region – IT and digital technology, advanced manufacturing and supply chain, logistics and e-commerce, life sciences and energy and environmental technology.

IT and Digital Technologies

The Leipzig Region is experiencing strong growth in the digital technology sector, partly due to its young population, availability of housing and affordability of rents. As a result, one of the main industries in the Leipzig Region is now information technology.

According to economic data provided by the City of Leipzig, there are now 14,800 people employed by over 1,300 ICT enterprises in Leipzig. Software asset management, eCommerce, software development, travel and comparison websites, IT solutions for logistics, AI and Big Data, cybertech, and eHealth are the eight subsectors that make up the IT and digital technology sector. Leipzig has also been recognised by the state as a Smart Digital Initiatives Hub, creating appealing chances for companies that contribute to the development of smart infrastructure as well as smart energy and e-health competen

Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chain

The Leipzig Region is home to a thriving manufacturing industry, thanks to a combination of well-established and creative start-up enterprises.

The Leipzig Region’s future-oriented manufacturing industry has grown and progressed, particularly in terms of digitalization. Skeleton Technologies has recently announced to invest over 200m EUR to build a state-of-the-art supercapacitor factory in Leipzig, in partnership with Siemens. In addition to traditional mechanical and plant engineering, lightweight construction, and material processing, leading manufacturers are investigating additive and digital manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), as well as manufacturing cyber security, to pave the way for a sustainable, competitive, and healthy global manufacturing industry. Therefore, in addition to traditional market leaders such as Kirow Ardelt, Schaudt Mikrosa or BGH Edelstahl Lippendorf, the Leipzig region is also home to highly innovative and successful young manufacturing companies like Sage, In-Tech or Rhebo.

Logistics and E-Commerce

E-commerce is becoming increasingly important in our everyday lives. According to a new Statista analysis, e-commerce in Europe and the United States is predicted to rise by 47% to 50% over the next three years, greatly outpacing growth in the world’s largest e-commerce market, China.

Home to Germany’s second busiest cargo airports, the Leipzig Region is a vital logistical centre for European and global markets. Through its key location in the centre of Europe, the Leipzig Region has traditionally been one of the most important logistics locations both nationally and internationally. Leipzig’s rail and road infrastructure is also excellent, providing additional reasons for new logistics and e-commerce companies to settle in Leipzig in recent years.

Many large logistics and e-commerce businesses utilise Leipzig as a European hub, accumulating companies across all logistics sectors; from bulk logistics (DB Cargo AG), cargo transport (Elflein, Rhenus), contract logistics (Schnellecke, Emons, KATEK, DSV, Raben) and courier, express and parcel services, CEP (DHL, Amazon Distribution, IW-Transport) to air freight (European Air Transport Leipzig, PortGround, Mitteldeutsche Flughafen). Recently, the e-commerce fulfilment company Huboo, has opted to expand its reach across Europe by investing in the Leipzig region, in order to stay up with the growing logistics and e-commerce industry development in the area.

Life Sciences

The Leipzig Region is a leading cluster in Germany for research & innovation in the life sciences and biotechnology, connecting academia, business and research. Within the cluster, biotechnology, medtech including informatics, pharma and cell and gene therapy are the most promising growth areas.

Leipzig is also growing its reputation as a pharmaceutical and medical logistics hub, thanks to DHL’s expanding operations.

The Leipzig Region is home to several internationally renowned cutting-edge research institutions, including the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Fraunhofer IZI. Vita 34, Europe’s top private cell bank operator has its headquarters in the Leipzig Region, too.

The Leipzig Region’s life sciences firms are focused on applied cutting-edge medical research as well as future-oriented healthcare solutions. The BIO-CITY Campus is now home to the Medical Forge Leipzig accelerator for Smart Medical Devices and Therapies.

Energy and Environmental Technology

Energy and environmental technology is one of the most significant and fastest-growing sectors of the economy in the Leipzig Region, due to the city’s targets to become carbon neutral by 2045Across the focus sectors energy, transport, infrastructure, materials and waste management, different cluster organisations and research institutes all contribute to a productive interchange of ideas for the deployment of innovative technologies. The Leipzig region and central Germany is already a hub for e-mobility and battery cell production, with BMW and Porsche switching to electric vehicle manufacturing. Leipzig is also a centre for energy trade in Europe, being home to the European Energy Exchange and the Hydrogen Intermediary Network Company HINT.CO.

The availability of talent graduating from Saxony’s seven technical institutions, which specialise on electrical engineering, computer technology, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering, is a critical reason Leipzig’s energy sector is growing. According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the number of individuals working in the sustainable energy industry in Germany has quadrupled since 2000, and Leipzig now employs more than 12,600 people in the sector.

Do you want to be part of one (or more) of these booming industries in the Leipzig region?

Invest Region Leipzig is a unique German partner for enterprises wishing to move or establish a new business in the region. We’re here to assist you with whatever you need to relocate and settle into your new company location in the Leipzig Region.

We hold your hand and guide you through the Leipzig Region’s growth and settlement process. After you have decided to relocate to the Leipzig Region, our personnel will be directly accessible to you. We can help you with everything you need to start your adventure in the Leipzig Region because of our close ties with lawmakers, administrators, and key service providers. We will contact professional service providers and link you with regional industrial groups and clusters.

Get in touch today. We would be pleased to present the range of services and industries in the Region of Leipzig and show you the advantages that your company in particular can expect here.