Consulting industry in Hamburg – Sector overview
Sector description
As a major port and economic metropolis with a global reputation, Hamburg has developed into a centre for North German consulting firms. The Hanseatic city of Hamburg is among the top consulting cities in Germany – according to the German Consulting Association (Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater BDU), with a 5.7 percent share of the whole market Hamburg generated more revenue in 2014 than the whole of Eastern Germany (excluding Berlin).
Despite being the capital city and having almost twice the number of inhabitants, Berlin has a slightly smaller share of the total market (5.5 percent, BDU Facts & Figures 2014/15). The diverse consulting industry represents a significant part of Hamburg’s economy. Around 11,500 companies belong to our Chamber of Commerce consulting group. Alongside over 6,000 traditional business and management consultants, they also include, for example, market and public opinion research companies, PR consultants, M&A consultants as well as auditors and recruitment consultants.
Economic data
| Key figures of the consulting business | Data |
|---|---|
| Number of companies: | 11,781 |
| - business and management consultants | 6,479 |
| - other consultants, including healthcare, art, energy and legal consultants | 1,404 |
| - M&A consultants | 894 |
| - market and opinion researchers | 809 |
| - PR consultants | 624 |
| - accountants | 608 |
| - auditors and tax consultants | 596 |
| - recruitment consultants | 367 |
| Employees subject to social insurance contributions | 41,640 |
| - business and management consultants | 19,634 |
| - auditors and tax consultants | 7,296 |
| - other consultants, including healthcare, art, energy and legal consultants | 7,129 |
| - market and opinion researchers | 2,098 |
| - M&A consultants | 1,682 |
| - PR consultants | 1,661 |
| - recruitment consultants | 1,185 |
| - accountants | 955 |
| Size range of the companies | |
| - 1-3 employees | 10,590 |
| - 4-9 employees | 662 |
| - 10-19 employees | 272 |
| - 20-49 employees | 163 |
| - 50-99 employees | 47 |
| - 100-199 employees | 27 |
| - 200-499 employees | 11 |
| - 500 and more employees | 9 |
Source: Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
Current climate in the consulting industry
The calculated business climate indicator for the Hamburg economy and the respective sectors results from the assessments of the current situation and future development. The resulting values are between 0 and 200 index points.
The Hamburg economic barometer gives regular updates on the economic situation in Hamburg as a whole and for selected sectors of the economy. Business confidence (an average value taken from assessments of the current and future business situation) among Hamburg PR and business consultants stands on average at 124.8 (2013 to 2016) and is therefore significantly higher than the Hamburg economy as a whole with a value of 113.9 (2013 to 2016). However, business confidence within the Hamburg consulting industry deteriorated significantly at the end of the first quarter of 2016 in comparison to a survey carried out in the previous quarter. This was evidently due to a temporary slowdown at the beginning of the year (as in the previous two years) – in the second quarter of 2016, the consultants assessed business confidence as being significantly more positive again.