Development of the overall economic environment and the associated impact

Despite considerable geopolitical challenges, the global economy developed robustly over the first three quarters of 2026, buoyed by continued strong investment in technology and in particular artificial intelligence (AI). However, the intensification of the conflict in the Middle East has had a detrimental impact on the macroeconomic conditions, resulting in rising energy and commodity prices, growing inflation risks, more volatile financial and commodity markets, and mounting risks for global supply chains. On international bond markets, inflation concerns and high levels of government debt in major economies in the third quarter of 2026 have led to significant increases in returns in some cases. In the latest World Economic Outlook from October 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that the global economy remains resilient, bolstered in large part by the technology-driven investment boom.

Overall, 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: