"The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated digital transformation in many areas," said Bitkom President Achim Berg. "Business, government and consumers are investing in digital technologies, and investments that had been postponed in the meantime are now being made up for."

Due to the pandemic, sales in the German information and communications technology (ICT) industry fell slightly last year. According to Bitkom, the ICT market declined by 0.6 percent to 169.8 billion euros, mainly due to weaker business with IT services and software.

Towards the end of last year, the business climate in Germany "developed predominantly positively," Bitkom reported. At 19.7 points, the Bitkom-ifo Digital Index climbed in December to its highest level since February 2020.

"The Bitkom industry has come through the crisis well so far. For 2021, the signs are pointing to growth again," said Berg.

According to Bitkom, ICT companies in Germany are expected to create 20,000 additional jobs by the end of this year. Currently, 1.2 million people are employed in the country's ICT industry.

The German ICT industry has created 150,000 jobs in the past five years alone. "Digitalization not only leads to greater efficiency and productivity across all industries, but it also increases the demand for labor," Berg said. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars) Enditem.