Espionage Boosted East Germany Output by 7.4%
A study on East Germany's economic espionage activities during the Cold War revealed that they contributed to boosting the country's gross domestic product by 7.4% by the late 1980s, with industrial value added increasing by 22.3%. This equates to approximately 20.2 billion marks (4.1 billion euros at 2020 prices). The information was obtained through scientific and technological data from the West via the Stasi apparatus. The study indicated that companies benefiting from this intelligence experienced faster productivity growth and invested more, thereby strengthening East Germany’s position within the socialist bloc. However, this did not guarantee significant success in Western markets. It is worth noting that each piece of valuable information yielded an annual return of about 330,000 euros.
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