Economy
The city is one of Germany’s most important commercial, industrial and cultural centres, with much of the local economic activity revolving around its port which is one of the biggest deep-sea ports for container shipping in the world, the second busiest in Europe and the ninth busiest in the world. The city also has a large fishing fleet and a significant shipbuilding repair industry.

Other industries found in Hamburg include aerospace with the company Airbus, having one of its two assembly plants located there and Lufthansa for many years has had its base near Hamburg. Heavy industry in the city includes the production of aluminium, steel and Europe’s biggest copper plant. Other important industries include the production of chemicals, metals and petroleum.

Hamburg is also known as a prominent media centre and is home to a large number of companies operating in the fields of publishing, around 50% of the national magazines and newspapers are produced in Hamburg. Internet companies such as Google and AOL have offices in the city and music companies including Warner Music are also located there.

The oldest of Germany’s eight Stock Exchanges is based in Hamburg it was founded in 1558; it is also one of the oldest exchanges in Europe. According to Eurostat in January 2005, in 2002 Hamburg had a GDP per Capita of 39,756 Euros, which out of the 25 member states of the EU ranked fourth after Inner London, Brussels and Luxembourg.

Infrastructure
The city’s transport infrastructure is second to none. It includes its world-renowned port with excellent rail and inland-waterway connections with much of central Europe. According to the Hamburg port authority, in 2004 container throughput was the 9th highest in the world top 20 and in Europe second only to Rotterdam, based on the standard TEU (Twenty foot Equivalent Unit). More than 1,000 Ports in the world are served from Hamburg.

Hamburg has its own airport, Hamburg-Fuhlsbuttel Airport, which is situated just 8.5 kilometres to the north of the city centre. During the period from 2000 to 2004 the airport saw an average of just over 9.5 million passengers a year and links to 108 destinations, mainly in Europe, covered by 63 airlines. Lubeck airport which is located 59 kilometres to the northeast of the city is also used by many travellers flying with budget airlines, to access Hamburg. The city has 5 main railway stations; the main station is Hamburg Hauptbahnhof with Altona, Dammtor, Harburg and Bergedorf, providing connections to many cities throughout both Germany and Europe. A comprehensive U-bahn and S-bahn network along with modern bus system provides rapid travel around Hamburg.

Workforce
Figures published in 2003 by Hamburg Messe show Hamburg to have a workforce of just over 1 million, broken down the figures show 53% in the service sector, 30% in the trade, commerce and transport sector and 17% involved with the manufacture of goods. With 11 institutions of higher education and universities, Hamburg can supply all of the varied sectors of business with highly educated and skilled workers. The city is also home to 17 research institutes covering everything from forestry to molecular biology.

Standard of Living
An advantage of locating to Hamburg is the relatively low cost of living. The Mercer Human Resource Cost of Living Survey 2005 ranks Hamburg in 49th position out of 144 cities world wide, with a score of 85. New York is the median for the index, in 13th place (100), Tokyo is in 1st place (134.6). Of the 44 European cities, including ex-Soviet Union, Hamburg was 33rd.

Hamburg has long been known as a city of entertainment and culture. The diversity of entertainment in Hamburg is probably amongst the widest variety of anywhere in Europe with everything from Opera and Ballet, to the erotic in the clubs on the world famous Reeperbahn. The composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg and in 1960 the Beatles performed some of their first performances in the clubs of Hamburg.

It has been noted by many that the city is probably the greenest in Germany with around 13% of the cities area being greenland and parks. Within the centre of Hamburg are the Alster lakes, originally created as reservoirs and are used for water sports and sailing activities with the banks of the lakes being popular with cyclists.

Business Costs
According to the CBRichard Ellis EMEA Rent Navigator as of Q2 2005, prime rent in Hamburg stood at 264 euros per square metre per year. The occupancy cost in London (city) was 716 euros, while Paris, Frankfurt and Munich were 645 euros, 402 euros and 348 euros respectively.