Development of the overall economic environment and the associated impact

The global economy initially demonstrated robust growth in the first quarter of 2026, buoyed by upticks in industry and trade volumes and in investments in technology prior to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The intensification of the Iran conflict has had a detrimental impact on the macroeconomic conditions. Rising oil and gas prices, more volatile commodity and finance markets, and expectations of further inflation have begun to leave their mark on the economic outlook. The risks are likewise mounting for global supply chains. Irrespective of this, the telecommunications industry has so far proven to be resilient in the face of economic fluctuations.

Deutsche Telekom is aware that, especially in view of the current developments, extrapolating past experience to the future is only possible to a limited extent. Deutsche Telekom continues to address these challenges and considers them in its business decisions in the course of developing measures to mitigate the risks. Deutsche Telekom also considers the development of the economic environment 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, and 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 discount rates were used when calculating the present value of the Group’s key defined benefit obligations: