Development of the overall economic environment and the associated impact

Current indicators suggest that the global economy developed robustly overall in the first quarter of 2025. However, the change in political direction in the United States has led to increased volatility in the financial markets and given rise to a palpable increase in uncertainty amongst both companies and private households. The trade tariffs announced by the new U.S. government – some of which have already taken effect, some of which have already been revoked – have resulted in a significant shift in the global macroeconomic conditions. The extent to which the trade tariffs that have already taken effect and those further announced will be permanent, or for how long they will apply, or what retaliatory action may be taken, is still unclear. The telecommunications industry is not directly affected by trade tariffs and, in the past, has proven to be relatively resilient in the face of economic fluctuations.

Deutsche Telekom is aware that, in view of the current developments, it is only possible to extrapolate past experience to the future to a limited extent. Deutsche Telekom is constantly reassessing developments in the economic environment and takes them into account in its consolidated financial statements and financial reporting, e.g., when determining the impairment of goodwill, the recognition of deferred taxes, and the measurement of provisions, financial instruments, as well as of investments accounted for using the equity method.

Changes in the underlying parameters primarily relate to the exchange rates used for currency translation and to the interest rates for determining defined benefit obligations.

The euro exchange rates of certain significant currencies changed as follows:

The following key discount rates were used when calculating the present value of defined benefit obligations: