GfK purchasing power Germany 2011 – increase thanks to economic upturn

Purchasing power in Germany will rise by a substantial EUR 499 per capita in 2011. This development stems from the swift recovery from the financial crisis on the one hand, and higher wage expectations on the other. The regional evaluation of the data shows that Hamburg will benefit in particular. This is one finding of the survey carried out by GfK GeoMarketing.

GfK purchasing power for Germany in 2011 will total EUR 1,610.2 billion, which is 2.6% more than in 2010. The average German can therefore expect purchasing power of EUR 19,864 in the coming year, to spend on consumption, rent and the costs of living, for example.

According to economic experts, the economy will continue to recover in 2011, partly as a result of the positive trend in the labor market as well as the forecast rise in net wages and pension payments. However, there are factors that could still cause a change in the predicted purchasing power. At the moment, the Bundesbank is expecting an inflation rate of 1.7% for 2011. Therefore, just a few decimal places can affect how much disposable income people actually have. Moreover, higher social contributions are to be expected in many areas in the coming year, such as in health insurance for example.

Federal state comparison: Hamburg catching up
As a result of its positive development, the city state of Hamburg has climbed two places in the federal state rankings this year, moving into the number two spot after Bavaria and pushing both Hesse and Baden-Württemberg down a place respectively.

Despite positive development in the city state of Berlin (growth of 4%), as in the prior year the German capital remains in eleventh place in the federal state rankings. Together with Brandenburg, Berlin is around 10% below the federal average and consequently considerably ahead of Thuringia, Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt. These are all around 16% below the federal average.

[read more]

Oracle Spatial

ORACLE, one of the world’s largest software companies, offers “Oracle Spatial” as a database feature. Oracle Spatial offers a range of spatial / mapping feature for usage in marketing, sales, the insurance and reinsurance industry, to name but a few. GfK GeoMarketing offers the complementary postcode maps on a global scale. Check it out!

GfK Map of the Month: European purchasing power

A free map showing the dispersion of purchasing power across European region can be downloaded at the GfK GeoMarketing website.

Up-to-date maps of Central and South America: GfK GeoMarketing to release administrative and postcode boundaries from Tierra del Fuego to Mexico

GfK GeoMarketing has newly updated and digitized maps for all Central and South American countries. The approximately 500 digital maps provide a reliable cartographic basis for detailed analyses and planning in this region.

The new map editions provide coverage of at least the two-digit postcode boundaries of all Central and South American countries with postcode systems – five-digit coverage is available for some Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. Administrative levels for almost all of the featured countries are rendered at the highest possible level of detail. GfK GeoMarketing’s new Central and South American map editions comprise around 500 map layers – a significant increase from the 300 layers available in previous editions. Comprehensive coverage of postcode boundaries is available for the first time for many countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. The digitization of the cities has also been enhanced – for example, the maps of Cuba feature coverage of around 2,300 cities, organized into five size categories. All countries were digitized and refined using the latest cartographic sources.

The topographic maps have also been improved: Waterbodies and coastlines are very finely rendered in all of the maps, corresponding to a level of detail at least comparable to a conventional paper map scale of 1:100,000. The maps thus support an enormous array of applications. These range from business uses such as geomarketing to natural catastrophe planning by NGOs and detailed risk assessment by reinsurance companies.

“The re-digitization and expansion of the maps for Central and South American was a very demanding process,” says Klaus Dittmann, head of cartography at GfK GeoMarketing. “Our cartography division spent months researching, verifying and re-digitizing the maps. Comprehensive, detailed and up-to-date maps are essential for those active in the dynamic markets of Central and South America, such as the insurance industry, which needs highly detailed and accurate maps. Our newly updated maps of Central and South America thus provide a much-needed, reliable cartographic basis for these countries.”

Some of the features of the new map editions include comprehensive coverage, seamlessly fitting and overlap-free boundaries, national and local place-name attributions and infinite zoom capability. Like all of the digital maps sold by GfK GeoMarketing, the new Central and South America map editions are offered in all standard digital map formats, including *.shp (ESRI), *.mid/*.mif (MapInfo), *.gdb (Geodatabase) and *.lay (GfK GeoMarketing). The new maps of all Central and South American countries will be available from the end of June. These maps are part of GfK GeoMarketing’s cartographic coverage of 240 countries, the world’s largest collection of digital administrative and postcode maps.


For further information, please call me at ++49 7251 92 95 145

Up-to-date cartographic basis: GfK Europe Map Edition 2009/2010

Over the past year, thousands of changes have occurred in Europe’s administrative units, including municipal boundary and postcode reforms. Central and Eastern Europe have experienced an especially large number of changes, with reforms to multiple countries’ administrative and postcode structures. For example, Lithuania experienced 1,370 name and boundary changes in addition to 400 completely new postcode areas. Poland also reformed its postcode structure, adding 49 new postcodes and eliminating 77. Italy also underwent significant change: 14 large cities that previously had a single postcode per city have now been subdivided into multiple postcodes, resulting in comprehensive changes to regional names and boundaries. The new Europe Map Edition reflects all of these regional reforms and changes. The 2009 update also includes the newly introduced two- and four-digit postcode areas in Albania.

“An immense amount of research and effort was required to carry out this comprehensive update, because every country has a different organizational structure,” explains Klaus Dittmann, head of cartography at GfK GeoMarketing. “An up-to-date cartographic basis is essential for geomarketing, otherwise addresses of business locations and customers are not correctly associated with the maps. Consequently, GfK GeoMarketing updates its maps annually, Europe-wide. The new Europe Map Edition gives companies a reliable and up-to-date cartographic basis for all place-related planning activities in Europe. The maps also fit perfectly with the new GfK Purchasing Power Europe dataset.”
Read full article (pdf)…

Welcome!

Please check again late Summer 2010 for further news.