EIB Investment Survey 2024

Each year, the EIB Investment Survey provides a snapshot of the issues facing EU firms and their ability to invest and grow their business. While the survey looks at trends across the European Union, it also hones in on individual countries and provides detailed information on how companies are weathering challenges such as tighter financial conditions, the demands of climate change, and the need to innovate and improve digitalisation amidst growing uncertainty.

Highlights of the results for individual countries include:

Digitalisation and innovation:

• Danish firms excel in innovation and the adoption of digital technologies. They are more likely to innovate than the average EU firm (49% vs 32%). Moreover, Danish firms are ahead of EU firms on the adoption of advanced digital technologies (84% vs. 74%), particularly medium and large firms and manufacturers.
• Czech firms are innovative and use state-of-the-art technologies. The share of Czech firms that have innovated during the preceding financial year is above the EU average (48% vs. 32%). A higher share of Czech firms has adopted advanced digital technologies than EU firms (91% vs. 74%).
• Italian firms’ investment in innovation and digital technologies is very close to their EU peers.

Climate change:

• In Finland, almost all (99%) of firms have taken action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, which is higher than the EU average of 91%. Additionally, 49% of Finnish firms see the transition to stricter climate standards and regulations as an opportunity, compared to 27% on average in the European Union.
• French firms outpace their EU counterparts when it comes to investing in climate mitigating measures. But they spend less in adaptation investment and insurance coverage: 12% of French firms are insured against climate risks vs. 21% in the EU on average.
• Nearly half of Swedish firms (49%) view the transition to stricter climate standards and regulations as an opportunity over the next five years, significantly more than the 29% of EU firms.

Overall investment:

• Investment in Croatia is 26% above pre-pandemic levels (in real terms), driven by the strong expansion in the private sector. Croatian firms are notably more positive than the EU average about the political, regulatory and economic climate.
• The share of Dutch firms investing reached a peak of 97% in 2024, surpassing the EU average (87%). However, the share of firms expecting to increase rather than decrease their investment (9%) has declined steadily since 2022 (22%).
• Looking ahead to the next three years, Spanish firms plan to invest in expanding capacity. More Spanish firms report capacity expansion as their investment priority than the EU average (42% vs. 26%).

The European Union overview publication looked at broader investment trends and found that while many EU firms were satisfied with their overall level of investment over the last three years, a significant share (14%) felt they still were not investing enough to meet current challenges and to transform their business to remain competitive.

• The share of firms expecting to increase rather than decrease investment halved in 2024, falling to a net balance of 7%, from 14% in 2023.

The EU overview also highlighted some important disparities between EU firms and their US counterparts.

• The share of EU firms investing in expansion is 6 percentage points below the share of US firms (26% in the European Union vs. 32% in the United States).
• EU firms devote 37% of their investments to intangible assets, focusing less on land, buildings, and infrastructure than US firms do (14% of EU firms vs. 24% of US firms).

Looking ahead, EU firms expect to continue investment in replacing instead of expanding capacity. This contrasts sharply with US firms, where 47% said they expected to expand capacity in the next three years, compared to 26% in the European Union.

EU firms are highly dependent on trade, either with other EU members or with countries beyond the European Union. Political and trade tensions threaten to disrupt supply chains, although those risks dissipated somewhat in 2024. However, EU and US firms remain concerned about disruptions to their logistics and transport and their ability to comply with new regulations, standards and certifications.

In response to trade shocks, EU and US firms have adopted similar strategies: building up inventories, investing in digital tracking of supplies and diversifying suppliers. Despite the challenge, EU firms are less likely to reduce their reliance on international trade by cutting the amount of imported goods and services used in production.

• Only 7% of EU firms are willing to scale back imported goods and services used in production, vs. 14% of US firms.

EU firms continue to lead in climate change investments, whether to prepare for extreme weather or to reduce carbon emissions. EU firms are also less likely to see the green transition as a risk than their US counterparts.

• One in three EU firms (34%) say that the transition to stricter climate standards and regulations will pose a risk to their business over the next five years, compared to 42% of US firms.
• 27% of EU firms even see the green transition as an opportunity.

EU and US firms share concerns about the business environment, and say they have not seen any significant improvement in recent years. Firms in both regions mainly worry about the availability of staff with the right skills and uncertainty about the future.

• In the European Union, 46% of firms say that energy costs remain a major obstacle to investment.
• EU firms are also more likely to perceive business regulations and the availability of finance as major obstacles than their US counterparts.