Demographic trends suggest, however, that this development should slow down over the medium term. Corporate investment should follow an upward trajectory as well, as uncertainty surrounding the euro area crisis is slowly subsiding. And almost half of all investment in machinery and equipment is comprised of imports; the moderating effect on the current account is therefore comparatively high.
Finally, the German government has also announced an increase, albeit modest, in public investment. But cyclical factors do not tell the whole story. When looking at sectoral developments, one fact is striking. For the last 20 years, total factor productivity (TFP) growth in services has  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  markedly lagged TFP growth in manufacturing.