“Enormous opportunity”: Germany ranks second in air conditioning technology exports

A study by KfW and Deloitte shows: Only China exports more air conditioning technology than Germany. Solar systems and electric cars could give the German economy a real boost.

According to a study, Germany is one of the world's leading exporters of climate protection technologies and could benefit from the rapid growth of the market. With a share of ten percent of global exports, Germany is in second place behind China with 26 percent. This emerges from a study by the development bank KfW and Deloitte.

The goods covered include solar systems, wind power technology, battery storage, heat pumps and electric and hybrid cars. Global trade in these products increased by an average of eight percent annually between 2017 and 2025, according to the study. Total trade in goods, however, rose by 4.7 percent.

Competition from China is growing

“Climate technologies offer Germany enormous opportunities,” explained KfW boss Stefan Wintels. "Climate protection is much more than environmental policy, but now also industrial, trade and location policy." Overall, global trade in environmental and climate technologies reached a value of $2.8 trillion in 2025. This corresponded to 11.4 percent of total trade in goods.

However, competition from China is growing. According to the study, China has now replaced Germany as the world's largest supplier of exports of climate-friendly transport technology. In 2025, China had a share of 18 percent and Germany 17 percent. From 2020 to 2023, the Federal Republic was at the top in this area. The product group examined primarily includes electric and hybrid cars, but also rail vehicles and bicycles.

At the same time, the authors warn of significant dependencies on China. The country has around 85 percent of the global manufacturing capacity for battery cells and more than 80 percent of the capacity along the photovoltaics value chain. For example, if China stops exporting batteries for just one month, the International Energy Agency calculates that global production losses could amount to around $17 billion in the electric car industry alone - more than half of which in the EU.