Macro­economic and Sector-Specific Environment

In its latest World Economic Outlook published on January 19, 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected stable global gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 3.3% for the year 2025. This economic stability was primarily attributable to declining global inflation rates, which were expected to decrease from an annual average of 5.8% in 2024 to 4.1% in 2025, with further declines anticipated in 2026. While inflation remained above target in the United States, it was subdued in many other regions, presenting both challenges and opportunities for monetary policy. Although U.S. tariff policy and trade tensions cast a shadow of uncertainty over the global economy, the private sector’s agility in front-loading imports and swiftly reorganizing supply chains helped mitigate some impacts. Additionally, significant investments in artificial intelligence (AI) in emerging Asian markets contributed to additional economic growth.

The IMF highlighted general risks to the global outlook, including shifts in trade policy and rising protectionism, which disrupt supply chains and market access. Furthermore, tighter immigration policies also limit labor supply, impacting productivity. Despite these challenges, the IMF identifies key opportunities, such as breakthroughs in trade negotiations that ease tariffs, stronger multilateral cooperation and structural reforms that enhance labor mobility and digitalization. Additionally, sustained productivity gains from investments in AI and a modestly expansionary fiscal policy lead to economy-wide gains.

The development of GDP in selected countries and regions was as follows:

The development of selected sector-specific environments was as follows:

Life Science

Our Life Science business sector remains a global leader in providing innovative products, tools and services across research, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical production as well as industrial and testing laboratories. While the direct impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are now behind us, the sector continues to undergo a normalization period as companies navigate a complex macroeconomic landscape. Geopolitical uncertainty, capital constraints and cautious spending have tempered growth for life science companies relative to pre-pandemic levels.

Markets served by the Life Science business sector are showing signs of recovery but have not yet fully returned to historical levels, especially in areas tied to early-stage innovation. According to the market research firm Frost & Sullivan, the market for laboratory products relevant to our Science & Lab Solutions business unit resumed slight growth in 2025 at 0.1% (2024: -1.5%), below historical average growth in the mid-single-digit range.

Macroeconomic challenges and subdued GDP growth have dampened venture capital investments and initial public offerings in the biotech space, resulting in lower demand for laboratory products. Many customers remain focused on operational efficiency. Once capital markets regain momentum, healthy laboratory spending is expected to follow.

In the pharma and biotech production market, where our Process Solutions and Life Science Services business units are active, demand is driven by the development and manufacture of therapeutics and vaccines. According to the market research firm IQVIA, the end market for biopharmaceuticals grew by 15.6% in 2025 (2024: 13.9%) to € 618 billion (or 41.4% of the global pharmaceutical market).

The biopharmaceutical market continued its expansion in 2025, supported by solid research and development investment and a rebound in clinical trial activity. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) remain the cornerstone of innovation with the number of mAbs in Phases I and II increasing by 2.7% (2024: 6.5%), driven by continued momentum in bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates.

Healthcare

In its latest study from September 2025, IQVIA forecasts growth of 9.3% in 2025 (2024: 9.1%) for the overall pharmaceutical market worldwide. Growth rates for the pharmaceutical market benefit from new product launches, demographic and epidemiological trends as well as improved access to care. This is balanced by generic and biosimilar product uptake together with stricter price policies.

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) grew by 8.2% in 2025 (2024: 10.1%) with the EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) plus the United Kingdom growing by 6.3% (2024: 8.3%). North America grew by 12.3% (2024: 9.8%) with the United States growing at a rate of 12.6% (2024: 10.0%). The United States remains the biggest and most important pharmaceutical market by far. Latin America achieved double-digit growth of 11.7% (2024: 22.1%), impacted by decelerated but still high inflation. The Asia-Pacific region (excluding China and Japan) recorded 7.2% growth (2024: 7.0%). China has increased investment in healthcare infrastructure and access to innovative medicines while also extending price regulations (for example, through its National Volume-Based Procurement policy), decelerating growth to 0.3% in 2025 (2024: 1.8%).

Biotechnologically manufactured products account for 41.4% of pharmaceutical market value globally (2024: 39.4%). The United States remains the most important market with a 64.3% share.

Developments in the therapeutic areas of relevance to the Group saw differing trends in the reporting year. The global market for type 2 diabetes, excluding the United States, followed the high growth trend of previous years, growing 23.3% in 2025 (2024: 17.9%). The therapeutic area of infertility grew 7.9% in the reporting year (2024: 8.7%) with the Group as a global market leader. The market for colorectal cancer declined by 3.4% in 2025 (2024: +10.3%) with stronger usage of branded products despite biosimilar market penetration. The market for multiple sclerosis therapies returned to growth with 5.0% (2024: -2.2%) despite market entries of generics.

Electronics

The semiconductor industry is the most important market for our business with materials, solutions and services for integrated circuit production (Semiconductor Solutions). Demand for semiconductor materials primarily depends on the wafer area produced for semiconductors, with silicon wafers also serving as an indicator for overall semiconductor materials demand. According to the global industry association SEMI (October 2025 forecast), the delivered silicon wafer area recorded a 5.4% increase in 2025 (2024: -2.5%). The industry moved past the 2023 cyclical downturn, showed a recovery in 2024 and returned to growth in 2025.

The environment remained volatile, with macroeconomic challenges such as ongoing trade disputes and country- and sector-specific tariff discussions weighing on the global economy. Consumer demand for electronics and IT hardware remained subdued, as PC and smartphone shipments showed only slow, incremental growth and spending intentions remained muted. Despite these challenges, semiconductor manufacturers raised utilization rates and increased wafer shipments, mainly in advanced logic chips and selected memory segments driven by strong demand for AI and server end markets. We expect a positive outlook for the semiconductor market in 2026, primarily driven by surging demand for AI applications and chip producers’ strong price/mix gains.

In the Optronics business unit, we provide a wide range of key materials for the display industry while also contributing to metrology and inspection devices for the semiconductor industry. According to OMIDA, the display industry recovered in 2024, showing 6.3% growth. Despite the growing uncertainty in the global economy, the demand for large-screen televisions continues to rise. Additionally, the ongoing replacement of IT devices and steady growth in automotive displays contribute to a positive outlook. As a result, the display surface area is projected to increase by 3.5% in 2025. Liquid crystals will remain vital in the display industry, while OLED technology is gaining prominence in high-end applications. At the same time, augmented reality technologies are rapidly transitioning from experimental phases to mainstream applications, significantly impacting both consumer and enterprise sectors. Finally, metrology and inspection tools are becoming increasingly important as semiconductor architecture evolves toward complex 3D design and heterogeneous integration.