The consumer debt of households in Germany totals in the triple-digit billions and is characterized by a wide range of interest rates. Despite the high volume of debt, many people do not know the terms of their consumer credit contracts. This report analyzes new survey data on general knowledge...

Industrialized countries and emerging economies must cooperate in order to decarbonize the emissions-intensive industrial sector and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. While Germany and the other G7 countries have committed to supporting emerging economies in their efforts to combat...

In the policy debate, there are regular demands to further increase the retirement age to address the financial challenges for the pension system. However, a prolonged working life impacts a person's health. Detailed data from the statutory health insurance companies shows that abolishing the...

The building sector plays a major role when it comes to meeting climate targets. An analysis by DIW Berlin based on data from energy provider ista SE shows that in the past two years both the temperature-adjusted heat consumption in German multi-apartment buildings and the temperature-adjusted...

For the first time in 2020, the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), an annual survey of private households, surveyed the donation behavior of a random sample of high net worth individuals that had been added in 2019. As a result of this sample, the volume of private donations increased from 9.7 to 10.3...

Research and development (R&D) expenditure in Germany decreased by 5.3 percent overall in 2020 compared to 2019. While the OECD countries actually slightly increased their R&D expenditure on average for the first time in a crisis-ridden year, it declined more sharply in Germany compared to the...