Editing Thuringia (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Zentrum Jenas 2008-05-24.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Jen Tower]] is a symbol of East Germany's economy. According to the 2019 study by Forschungsinstitut Prognos, [[Jena]] is one of the most dynamic regions in Germany. It ranks at number 29 of all 401 German regions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/mitteldeutschland/zukunftsatlas-leipzig-ist-dynamischste-region-deutschlands-XGWYHQGJD7WFK5SW7SYMHG6F4I.html|title=Zukunftsatlas: Leipzig ist dynamischste Region Deutschlands|website=www.lvz.de|date=5 July 2019 }}</ref>]]
[[File:OPEL Eisenach Gesamtansicht 2009.jpg|thumb|right|[[Opel Eisenach]] manufacturing]]
[[File:TEAG Hauptsitz 2015.jpg|thumb|right|TEAG Thüringer Energie AG in Erfurt, the largest electric utility company in Thuringia]]
Thuringia's economy is marked by the economic transition that happened after the German reunification and led to the closure of most of the factories within the Land. The unemployment rate reached a peak in 2005. Since that year, the economy has seen an upturn and the general economic situation has improved.

=== Agriculture and forestry ===
Agriculture and forestry have declined in importance over the decades. Nevertheless, they are more important than in most other areas of Germany, especially within rural regions. 54% of Thuringia's territory is in agricultural use. The fertile basins such as the large [[Thuringian Basin]] or the smaller [[Goldene Aue]], [[Orlasenke]] and [[Osterland]] are in intensive use for growing cereals, vegetables, fruits and energy crops. Important products are apples, strawberries, cherries and plums in the fruit sector, cabbage, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes (grown in greenhouses), onions, cucumbers and asparagus in the vegetable sector, as well as maize, rapeseed, wheat, barley and sugar beets in the crop sector.

Meat production and processing is also an important activity, with swine, cattle, chickens and turkeys in focus. Furthermore, there are many milk and cheese producers, as well as laying hens. Trout and carp are traditionally bred in aquaculture in many villages.

Most agricultural enterprises are large cooperatives, founded as [[Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft]] during the GDR period, and meat producers are part of multinational companies. Traditional private peasant agriculture is an exception, as is organic farming.

Thuringia's only wine-growing district is around [[Bad Sulza]] north of [[Weimar]] and [[Jena]] along the [[Ilm (Thuringia)|Ilm]] and [[Saale]] valley. Its production is marketed as [[Saale-Unstrut]] wines.

Forestry plays an important role in Thuringia because 32% of the Thuringian territory is forested. The most common trees are spruce, pine and beech. There are many wood and pulp-paper factories near the forested areas.

=== Industry and mining ===
Like most other regions of central and southern Germany, Thuringia has a significant industrial sector reaching back to the mid-19th-century industrialisation. The economic transition after the German reunification in 1990 led to the closure of most large-scale factories and companies, leaving small and medium-sized ones to dominate the manufacturing sector. Well-known industrial centres are [[Jena]] (a world centre for optical instruments with companies like [[Carl Zeiss AG|Carl Zeiss]], [[Schott AG|Schott]] and [[Jenoptik]]) and [[Eisenach]], where [[BMW]] started its car production in the 1920s and an [[Opel]] factory is based today. The most important industrial branches today are engineering and metalworking, vehicle production and food industries. Especially the small and mid-sized towns in central and southwestern Thuringia (e.g. [[Arnstadt]], [[Schmalkalden]] and [[Ohrdruf, Thuringia|Ohrdruf]]) are highly industrialised, whereas there are fewer industrial companies in the northern and eastern parts of the Land. Traditional industries like production of glass, porcelain and toys collapsed during the economic crises between 1930 and 1990.

Mining was important in Thuringia since the later Middle Ages, especially within the mining towns of the [[Thuringian Forest]] such as [[Schmalkalden]], [[Suhl]] and [[Ilmenau]]. Following the industrial revolution, the old iron, copper and silver mines declined because the competition from imported metal was too strong. On the other hand, the late 19th century brought new types of mines to Thuringia: the [[lignite]] surface mining around [[Meuselwitz]] near [[Altenburg]] in the east of the Land started in the 1870s, and two [[potash]] mining districts were established around 1900. These are the ''Südharzrevier'' in the north of the state, between [[Bischofferode]] in the west and [[Roßleben]] in the east with [[Sondershausen]] at its centre, and the ''Werrarevier'' on the Hessian border around [[Vacha, Germany|Vacha]] and [[Bad Salzungen]] in the west. Together, they accounted for a significant part of the world's potash production in the mid-20th century. After the reunification, the ''Südharzrevier'' was abandoned, whereas [[K+S]] took over the mines in the ''Werrarevier''. Between 1950 and 1990, [[uranium]] mining was also important to cover the Soviet Union's need for this metal. The centre was [[Ronneburg, Thuringia|Ronneburg]] near [[Gera]] in eastern Thuringia and the operating company [[Wismut (mining company)|Wismut]] was under direct Soviet control.

=== General economic parameters ===
The GDP of Thuringia is below the national average, in line with the other former East German Lands. Until 2004, Thuringia was one of the weakest regions within the [[European Union]]. The accession of several new countries, the crisis in southern Europe and the sustained economic growth in Germany since 2005 has brought the Thuringian GDP close to the EU average since then. The high economic subsidies granted by the federal government and the EU after 1990 are being reduced gradually and will end around 2020.

The unemployment rate reached its peak of 17.1% in 2005. Since then, it has decreased to 5.3% in 2019, which is only slightly above the national average. The decrease is caused on the one hand by the emergence of new jobs and on the other by a marked decrease in the working-age population, caused by emigration and low birth rates for decades. The wages in Thuringia are low compared to rich bordering Lands like [[Hesse]] and [[Bavaria]]. Therefore, many Thuringians are working in other German Lands and even in [[Austria]] and [[Switzerland]] as weekly commuters. Nevertheless, the demographic transition in Thuringia leads to a lack of workers in some sectors. External immigration into Thuringia has been encouraged by the government since about 2010 to counter this problem.

The economic progress is quite different between the regions of Thuringia. The big cities along the [[Bundesautobahn 4|A4 motorway]] such as [[Erfurt]], [[Jena]] and [[Eisenach]] and their surroundings are booming, whereas nearly all the rural regions, especially in the north and east, have little economic impetus and employment, which is a big issue in regional planning. Young people in these areas often have to commute long distances, and many emigrate soon after finishing school.

The unemployment rate stood at 5.9% in 2023 and was higher than the German average.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2524/umfrage/entwicklung-der-arbeitslosenquote-in-thueringen-seit-1999/|title=Arbeitslosenquote* in Thüringen von 2001 bis 2019|website=Statista|language=de|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundesländern 2023 |url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2192/umfrage/durchschnittliche-arbeitslosenquote-nach-bundeslaendern/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=Statista |language=de}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Year<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2018 |title=Federal Statistical Office Germany - GENESIS-Online |url=https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/data;sid=8605C2647C4C92D731CC1EC4BAC5AF53.GO_1_3?operation=ergebnistabelleUmfang&levelindex=3&levelid=1542098063701&downloadname=13211-0007 |access-date=13 November 2018 |website=www-genesis.destatis.de |language=en |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170119/https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/data;sid=8605C2647C4C92D731CC1EC4BAC5AF53.GO_1_3?operation=ergebnistabelleUmfang&levelindex=3&levelid=1542098063701&downloadname=13211-0007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
!2000
!2001
!2002
!2003
!2004
!2005
!2006
!2007
!2008
!2009
!2010
!2011
!2012
!2013
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
!2019
!2020
!2021
!2022
!2023
|-
|Unemployment rate in %
|15.4
|15.3
|15.9
|16.7
|16.7
|17.1
|15.6
|13.1
|11.2
|11.4
|9.8
|8.8
|8.5
|8.2
|7.8
|7.4
|6.7
|6.1
|5.5
|5.3
|6.0
|5.6
|5.3
|5.9
|}

=== Tourism ===
Tourism is an important branch of the economy. Thuringia has a number of well known destinations: [[Wartburg|Wartburg castle]] (UNESCO World Heritage Site), [[Weimar|Classical Weimar]] (UNESCO World Heritage Site), [[Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau|Bauhaus Weimar]] (UNESCO World Heritage Site), [[Thuringian Forest]], [[Oberhof, Germany|Oberhof]] or [[Rennsteig]] (ridge walk). City tourism with the centers of Erfurt, Weimar, Jena, Eisenach and Mühlhausen is experiencing dynamic growth. A total of around 9.2 million overnight stays were booked in 2016, compared to 8.3 million ten years earlier. Around 6% of the bookings were made by foreign guests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statistik.thueringen.de/datenbank/TabAnzeige.asp?tabelle=GE000802%7C%7CAnk%FCnfte,+%DCbernachtungen+und+Aufenthaltsdauer+der+G%E4ste+in+Beherbergungsst%E4tten+nach+ausgew%E4hlten+Gemeinden+(ohne+Camping)|title = Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Wartburg Eisenach DSCN3512.jpg|[[Wartburg]]
File:Goethe Schiller Weimar.jpg|[[Goethe–Schiller Monument]] in [[Weimar]]
File:Falkenstein Thüringen.jpg|[[Thuringian Forest]]
File:Schanzenanlage im Kanzlersgrund bei Oberhof.jpg|[[Oberhof, Germany|Oberhof]]
File:Erfurter Dom von Oben 08.jpg|[[Erfurt]] skyline
File:Kraemerbruecke und Aegidienkirche Erfurt 2017.jpg|[[Krämerbrücke]] in [[Erfurt]]
File:Muehlhausen Marienkirche.jpg|Oldtown of [[Mühlhausen]]
File:Schloss Friedenstein Gotha 2.JPG|[[Friedenstein Palace]], [[Gotha]]
</gallery>